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Discover the Best Skills for Duelist in Dragon Age: The Veilguard including the best skills in Sustain and Burst tree.
The Duelist is one of the more aggressive specializations in the game and focuses on close-range combat. While the Duelist does very little to stand out on its own, its high-risk, high-reward style gameplay pumps adrenaline like nothing else. Toxic Dash, Pilfer, and A Thousand Cuts are the best skills to use while in combat. The Passives, Greater Passives, Traits, and Ability Upgrades also play a crucial role in the game. That’s where we come to help you choose the best skills for the Duelist in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Everything About Duelist Build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
The Eternal Edge character build (Duelist Build) is mostly melee but can weave in Bow shots to grant powerful effects and pick off ranged enemies. Working together with Taash and Neve, you’ll be bursting and blowing up enemies with the necrosis effect, which causes serious damage over time-affliction. This build synergizes with our chosen companions for the highest outcome while also accessing Necrotic Damage.
You will be dealing insanely high melee damage powering enemies and dodging out. This build is especially for those who want to master swords. Look for the Duelist specialization as quickly as possible for the best course of action. If you want to be necrotic-focused, fast, and highly maneuverable and have some of the highest damage output in the game then this build is for you.
Best Duelist Skills and Abilities in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Toxic Dash is the best skill for Duelist Specialization because it applies the Sundered effect and deals necrotic damage. Pilfer is the second-best Ability to use because it steals a potion from and detonates the Overwhelmed effect. A Thousand Cuts is the third choice for Duelist specialization because it deals 880 necrotic damage.
Here are all the best Duelist Skills and Abilities in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
- Sustain Skill: Spill Blood: Provide an extra stack of Maximum Bleeding.
- Burst Skill: Decisive Finale: Unleashes a decisive Heavy Final attack after a light attack chain.
- Passive: Wrath: Enhance Critical Damage by 10%.
- Greater Passive: Energy Burst: Health and Momentum are enhanced by 10% if Adrenaline is active.
- Trait: Adrenaline: Grants bonus damage when striking targets 10 times without taking damage.
- Ability Upgrade: Quick Control: Decreases enemy defense by 5 if hit with a Control Ability.
- Ability: Toxic Dash: Dashes forward to the target, landing a hit.
Toxic Dash
Toxic Dash is a slashing attack that deals necrotic damage and applies Sundered to weaken the target’s defense. Before using any combos or any major ability, use Toxic Dash on your enemies to make your other attacks effective. It dashes towards your target and applies the Necrosis status to the target. Pair the Toxic Dash with the Neve’s Icebreaker ability. Neve fires 6 projectiles at the enemies using her wand and deals 363 cold damage. It detonates the Sundered status effect on enemies and has a base cooldown of 40 seconds.
First, use the Toxic Dash to apply the Sundered effect and then issue a command to Neve to use the Icebreaker ability. This will create an explosion and allow the enemy to deal additional damage. Once this combo is finished, then activate the Pierce Rune. Armor and weaponry are enhanced with penetration boosts upon activation and allow the players to break enemy defenses through a tactical advantage. Pierce alone can easily destroy the enemy defense but you can pair it with the Lightning Quiver.
Pilfer
A control tool type ability on a 6-second cooldown. You slice an enemy then steal a potion from them healing yourself in the process. It also detonates the overwhelmed effect and applies bleeding. The combo of Pilfer with Taash’s Spitfire is the second most effective combo that one can utilize if looking for an Overwhelmed effect. Pilfer is a control tool type ability on a 6-second cooldown that can slice an enemy and then steal a potion from them healing yourself in the process. It also detonates the overwhelmed effect and applies bleeding. Taash’s Spitfire can apply the Overwhelm status effect on the enemy.
Utilize this combo to apply Overwhelmed through Spitfire and then use Pilfer to detonate the Overwhelm effect. Once this combo is finished, you can use the Lightning Flask to deal additional damage. Lightning Flask is a duration control ability that throws down a flask of bottled lightning dealing electric damage in an AOE around you and applying the shocked status to enemies. This combo can dominate any enemy coming in their path.
If you’re fighting a boss in combat then after all the above abilities that we recommend, you can also use the concussive Barrage to drain the enemy’s health bar in no time. The concussive Barrage is an absolutely AOE ability that lets you smash a flask of lightning that explodes at your feet unleashing a shock wave of electricity that continues to trigger a few more times every couple of seconds. This one is great at applying the shock debuff on all targets which is a great way to just reduce their overall resistance to fire, ice, and electricity.
A Thousand Cuts
A strike control ability where you strike while stepping forward up to 16 times per high Necrotic damage with the final strike dealing more damage. Pair it with Taash’s Fire Breath Ability to deal fire damage. Taash breathes out flames on enemies to ignite them with draconic fury and deal 133 fire damage. It also applies the burning status effect on the enemies which does overtime damage for a short period. Lastly, it has a base cooldown of 36 seconds.
Once you’ve applied A Thousand Cuts and Fire Breath Ability on the enemy then Activate the Scourge Rune. A short-time boost to Necrotic damage output along with a consistent passive increase, making it the best option for weakening enemies over time. All of your weapon attacks deal Necrotic damage for 20 seconds. So, pairing A Thousand Cuts with your other ability or your Companion abilities is the best way to use it.
Best Specialization
Duelist is your typical melee Rogue. They dual-wield and are a menace on the battlefield, dashing around and dealing high damage. They’re between the Sustain and Burst nodes, meaning they have easy access to ways to increase their survivability probably through dashing and ways to dish out damage. This is a Specialization all about using your two one-handed weapons, parrying and dodging.
This Specialization is powerful for gaining increased Momentum, Adrenaline resources, and pure damage. Your combat style attempts to land as many attacks as possible to maintain high resources while weaving in skills and abilities for the most damage. It can be the deadliest in Dragon Age depending on the player’s skill level with a heavy emphasis on combos.
- Class: Rogue
- Resource: Momentum
- Best Faction: Veil Jumper or Shadow Dragons
- Best Companion: Taash, Neve
- Amor Type: Medium
- Weapon Type: Bow or Dual Wield Daggers
- Ultimate: Murder of Crows
- Ability: A Thousand Cuts
Best Sustain Skills for Duelist
Spill Blood (Passive), Overwhelming Tactics (Greater Passive), Leaping Shot (Trait), Bloodsucker (Ability Upgrade), and Pilfer (Ability) are the best skills for Duelist in combat.
Below are the best Sustain skills for the Duelist in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
- Spill Blood (Passive)- Grants an additional stack of Maximum Bleeding
- Improved Health (Passive)- Grants an additional 100 health.
- Overwhelming Tactics (Greater Passive)- Apply Bleed to Charged Light attacks and when your momentum is 100 or above then Necrosis to Charged Heavy attacks.
- Swift Rebuke (Greater Passive)- Grants Momentum by performing Perfect Dodge or Perfect Defense.
- Leaping Shot (Trait)- Leap backward and fire an explosive arrow into the ground that deals damage.
- Bloodsucker (Ability Upgrade)- Leeches 10% of the damage dealt by hitting enemies with a Tool Ability.
- Controlled Providence (Ability Upgrade)- Enhances your Control Ability damage by 10% for each active Advantage.
- Pilfer (Ability)- Steals a Potion from an enemy after attacking them and also applies the Overwhelmed effect on the enemy.
- Lightning Flask (Ability)- a duration control ability that costs momentum pip. You start by throwing down a flask of bottled lightning dealing electric damage in an AOE around you and applying the shocked status to enemies.
Best Burst Skills for Duelist
Staggering Blade (Passive), Momentous Occasion (Greater Passive), and Decisive Finale (Trait) are the best skills. Conductive Shot (Ability Upgrade), and Explosive Daggers (Ability) are also no exception to it. Below are the best Burst skills for the Duelist in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
- Staggering Blade (Passive)- Stagger from Final Attacks: +20%
- Traumatize (Passive)- increases Takedown by 15%.
- Momentous Occasion (Greater Passive)- Generate 25% more Momentum from Final attacks and double when you own Adrenaline.
- Knock Out (Greater Passive)- Deal critical damage against low-health enemies for your Charged Boy and Charged Attacks.
- Decisive Finale (Trait)- After a Light Attack Chain unleashes a decisive Heavy Final attack.
- Conductive Shot (Ability Upgrade)- Deal 100 Electric damage to enemies within 8 meters with Projectile Abilities.
- Physical Strike (Ability Upgrade)- Deal physical damage with Strike Abilities.
- Explosive Daggers (Ability)- A strike control ability where you strike while stepping forward up to 16 times per high Necrotic damage with the final strike dealing more damage. It also applies the Sundered effect on the enemy.
- Hurricane of Blades (Ability)- Deals damage to nearby enemies caught by rapid strikes, with the final hit dealing increased damage.
Best Duelist Passives
Wrath (Burst) is the best Passive to use because it increases Critical Damage by 10%. The second-best Passive to use for the Duelist is Dynamic Gain (Duelist) because it enhances Momentum by 50. The third in the line is Adrenaline Rush (Duelist) because it reduces the attacks required to activate Adrenaline by 2.
Best Duelist Greater Passives
Energy Burst (Duelist) is the best Greater Passive to use because it enhances the player’s health and Momentum by 10% if Adrenaline is active. Convert Energy (Duelist) is the second-best Greater Passive because it makes Charged attacks consume Momentum to deal additional damage and Stagger. Sly Strike (Burst) is the third in line because it grants 250 health and 10% Ultimate when successfully performing a Takedown.
Best Duelist Traits
Adrenaline (Antivan Crow) is the best Trait for a Duelist because it grants bonus damage when striking targets 10 times without taking damage. Leaping Shot (Sustain) is the second-best Trait because it allows you to leap backward and fire an exploding Arrow to deal damage over a small area. The third in line is Mounting Hill (Duelist) because the Adrenaline effect now stacks up to 3 times.
Best Duelist Ability Upgrades
Quick Control (Duelist) is the best Ability Upgrade because it reduces enemy defense by 5 if hit with a Control Ability. Sniper’s Precision (Burst) is the second one in line because it prevents damage reduction for Projectile Abilities while Precision is active. Daring Counter (Burst) is the third-best Ability Upgrade because it grants Deflect by defeating an enemy with a Strike Ability.
Best Duelist Ability
Toxic Dash (Antivan Crow) is the best Ability to use because it dashes forward to the target, landing a hit. Pilfer (Sustain) is the second-best Ability to use because it steals a Potion from an enemy after attacking them. A Thousand Cuts (Duelist) is the third in line because it slices enemies up to 16 times and deals 880 necrotic damage.
How to Play Duelist in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
The Duelist uses a Bow as the secondary weapon and doesn’t require a bar swap to activate. Simply hold down your aim button, draw it back, and aim to hit a target. You can manually aim or press the button once to activate a quick shot. Hitting enemies in their weakest point (headshots) triggers weak point damage with double the size of text and purple. The easiest way to hit a weak point is using the bow via manually aiming at range, specifically for the head.
The Rogue’s secondary weapon bow uses arrows, which are an automatically replenishing consumable item found in the bottom middle section of your User Interface. Momentum is the Rogue’s combat resource that increases when you hit an enemy and decreases when the enemy hits. You need momentum to use skills, and the User Interface pink resource builds over time. Once you reach a threshold of one momentum, a small circle will light up giving you an indication that your attack is able to be used.
Pair your abilities with the Taash and Neve for some additional damage and for the explosion that causes a specific effect, it can either be Sundered, Overwhelmed, or Weakened based on your selection of the abilities. Once the combo is finished, you can either activate a Rune for additional buffs or use other abilities to drain out the health bar of the enemies.
Conclusion
The Duelist uses dodges and parries to take advantage of their enemies’ missed attacks. Taxic Dash, Pilfer, and A Thousand Cuts are the best Abilities for the Duelist because they can dominate any enemy coming in the path. Choosing other skills like Passive, Greater Passive, Trait, and Ability Upgrade are crucial for every aspect. Wrath (Passive), Energy Burst (Greater Passive), Adrenaline (Trait), and Quick Control (Ability Upgrade) are the best skills to use. Pair your abilities with your Taash’s and Neve’s abilities to create an explosion and to deal additional damage. The bow is the secondary weapon to choose from and doesn’t require a bar swap to activate.
FAQs About the Best Skills for Duelist in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Q1: Which are the best abilities for the Duelist in Dragon Age: The Veilgaurd?
Toxic Dash, Pilfer, and A Thousand Cuts are the best skills to use while playing as a Duelist in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Q2: What do you get when you pick a specialization?
You will get access to multiple unique abilities, Passes, and traits when you pick a Specialization by consuming a skill point.
Q3: Which Companions work with the Duelist in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
Taash and Neve are the two best Companions that work well with the Duelist due to their unique abilities to apply or detonate the special effect on the target.
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