Dragon Age: The Veilguard Best Skills for Reaper

Discover the Best Skills for the Reaper in Dragon Age: The Veilguard including the best Survival and Abilities skills.  

Reaper is the one that lets you be an absolute high DPS player. What makes the Reaper Specialization and Build unique is that it can siphon off and heal from enemies while doing damage. This specialization is similar to the Death Caller in terms of survivability and life leaching. Your gameplay is about outlasting enemies and having more range shield throws to trigger large explosions. Reaper, Bloody Advance, and Driving Kick are the best abilities to use for Reaper specialization. Passive, Greater Passives, Traits, and Ability Upgrades play a crucial in changing the tide of victory.

Everything About Reaper Build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

The Reaper Build also uses a ranged shield throw as a primary damage attack. This build aims to create too much rage and deal massive damage by spamming the abilities. Reaper Warrior has the best survivability in the game and should be used for players on the highest difficulty. This allows you to carry two-handed weapons to deal AOE attacks and concentrated ground slams. The siphon status effect steals life from enemies and can be applied via the Reaper skill, two Rage resources in an AOE cleave in front of you.

The Reaper Build also uses a ranged shield throw as a primary damage attack. Therefore, you gain more range than your standard Warrior build. The downside that Darkspawn and other enemies consistently resist necrotic damage. However, one of your companions, Emmrich, can debuff enemies and make them vulnerable to necrotic damage, though it requires a weapon. Reaper Detonates the Weakened status effect, which can be placed via Emmrich, giving you another debuff, status effect, and explosion.

Best Reaper Skills and Abilities in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Reaper is the best skill for Reaper because it detonates the Weakened effect on the enemy. Bloody Advance is the second-best choice for Reaper because it applies the Sundered effect and bleeding too. Driving Kick is the third best ability to use because it deals 519 physical damage and also detonate Weakened effect.

Here are all the best Reaper Skills and Abilities in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

• Survival: Masochism: Take damage to get 4 Rage.
• Abilities: Killer Instinct: Enhance Stagger from Abilities by 50%.
• Passive: Shattering Throw: Enhance Shield Toss damage by 10%.
• Greater Passive: Let It Linger: Applies a debuff based on the player’s equipped Shield’s damage type.
• Trait: Perfect Throw: Increase the Charge level of Shield Toss to enhance damage and the number of bounces
• Ability Upgrade: Supercharged: Enhance damage against Barrier by 75% with Projectile Abilities.
• Ability: Reaper: Deals necrotic damage and slowly drains enemy health.

Reaper

Reaper is a skill that can detonate weakened people, but it also debuffs the enemy with the siphon. This heals while doing damage, giving you incredible survivability. However, the skill requires two Rage and is difficult to aim and sometimes miss. The best combo with Reaper is to use Time Stop with the passive from your companions that gives you 50 Rage immediately. Then, you can debuff with another companion to trigger a detonation immediately in combat.

Once you’re finished with this combo, activate the Crush Rune. For a short time, this one allows unpenalized attacks on armored enemies and enhances damage against Armor. Light and Ranged attacks are no longer penalized vs. Armor for 20 seconds. The best way to get the maximum output from the Reaper is to pair it with the ability or Rune that deals additional damage.

Bloody Advance

The Bloody Advance skills your ranged one Rage cost that applies Sundered. This skill doesn’t do much damage up front, but with passives can trigger necrosis and bleeding. Therefore, you will see enemies’ health melt and also trigger explosions with your companions.

Bloody Advance pairs well with Emmrich’s Final Rites skill or Neve’s Icebreaker, which detonates Sundered status effects. To enhance the effectiveness of Bloody Advance’s ability and detonate the sundered effect, you should pair it with Emmrich’s Final Rites. This combo can apply and detonate the Sundered effect to allow the target to take more damage in general.

The Final Rites ability summons an envoy of the dead who explodes in a blast of necrotic energy dealing 507 necrotic damage. Use the Bloody Advance ability to apply the sundered effect and then the Final Rites ability will detonate the Sundered status effect on an enemy and have a base cooldown of 38 seconds. This combo can destroy any enemy in their path. You can also add Scourge Rune that boosts Necrotic damage by 10% and all of your weapon attacks deal Necrotic damage for 20 seconds.

Driving Kick

Driving Kick skill deals physical damage, costs one Rage, and detonates weakened status effect. This skill pairs well with your companion Emmrich’s skill, Entangling Spirits, or Neve’s skill, Glacial Pace, which both apply on weekends. Another strength of Driving Kick is that it doesn’t have a cool down and stuns enemies. With both companions constantly debuffing enemies, you can frequently trigger a detonation and stun.

Pair the Driving Kick with the Glacial Pace for the Weakened effect. Neve shoots a single bolt concentrated of ice magic at the enemy to stop them in their tracks. It deals 218 cold damage and applies a Weakened status effect on the target. It has a base cooldown of 30 seconds. Issue a command to Neve to apply the Weakened effect on the target and then use your ability to detonate the Weakened effect. Once this combo is finished, activate the Ravage Rune to enhance the damage against enemy health, making it the best one to take down enemies in no time.

Best Specialization

Reaper specialization focuses on inflicting Necrotic damage, which can drain the life of their target and power them on their own. This is the risk-reward Specialization that balances health sacrifice and health gain to increase the Warrior’s outgoing potency. You can find this one in the northeast of the skill tree where you can use both a two-handed weapon and the Sword and Shield equipment as it enjoys a lot of siphoning enemy life effects and can focus on Necrotic damage.

This specialization is similar to the Death Caller in terms of survivability and life leaching. Your gameplay is about outlasting enemies and having more range shield throws to trigger large explosions. This style is geared towards slower pace combat with the tactical decision, vs. the typical charge in Warrior. Your ability deals Necrotic damage with a Scythe at medium range and triggers the weakened detonation. Use any weapon loadout effectively and focus on a sustained style of gameplay. It can drain enemies with damage over time and outlast them with health regeneration.

• Faction: Grey Wardens
• Race: Humans
• Active Skills
  • Ability 1: Reaper
  • Ability 2: Bloody Advance
  • Ability 3: Driving Kick
• Ultimate: Spirit Storm
• Specialization: Reaper
• Best Companions: Emmrich and Neve

Best Survival Abilities Skills for Reaper in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Traumatize (Passive), Masochism (Greater Passive), Return To Sender (Trait), Fortifying Shots (Ability Upgrade), and Titan Stomp (Ability) are the best Survival skills for Reaper.

Below are all the best Survival skills for Reaper in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

• Traumatize (Passive)- Increases Takedown by 15%.
• Third Degree (Passive)- Increases Maximum Burning Stacks by 1.
• Masochism (Greater Passive)- Grants 4 Rage when you take damage.
• Ready Guard (Greater Passive)- Grants you Deflect at the beginning of encounters.
• Return to Sender (Trait)- Grants you the ability to deflect enemy projectiles back to them by hitting Perfect Defense.
• Fortifying Shots (Ability Upgrade)- Grants resistant when defeating an enemy with a Projectile Ability.
• Conditional Surrender (Ability Upgrade)- Grants 20% additional duration to Primers applied by Control Abilities. Also, provide 20% additional damage to Detonations triggered by Control Abilities.
• Titan Stomp (Ability)- It stomps the ground dealing physical damage to those around you applying the Overwhelmed effect.
• Groundbreaker (Ability)- it deals 915 fire damage and also detonate the Weakened effect on the target.

Best Abilities Skills for Reaper

Killer Instinct (Passive), Triple Threat (Greater Passive), Explosive Toss (Trait), Time Management (Ability Upgrade), and Deadly Ground (Ability) are the best Abilities skill for Reaper.

Below are all the best Abilities skills for Reaper specialization in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

• Killer Instinct (Passive)- Increases Stagger from Abilities by 50%.
• Enraged (Passive)- Increase Rage generation by 10%.
• Triple Threat (Greater Passive)- Increases Ability damage by 50% when you equip an ability of each damage type.
• Carom (Greater Passive)- Enemies take 100% more damage and Stagger from environmental impacts.
• Explosive Toss (Trait)- Allows you to toss an explosive version of the shield that deals area damage around the target and disrupts enemies.
• Time Management (Ability Upgrade)- Effect duration abilities increased by 50%.
• Inspiring Strength (Ability Upgrade)- Grants Rally Party by defeating an enemy with a smash ability.
• Deadly Ground (Ability)- Create a Necrotic field at your current location. Enemies caught within take constant Necrotic damage. You also gain the enhanced damage effect while you are inside the field.
• Spectral Bulwark (Ability)- It places a rotating guard effect on you that increases your defense by 50% while it is active. If an enemy hits you then they take Necrotic damage and very high amounts of Stagger.

Best Reaper Passives

Shattering Throw (Reaper) is the best Passive to use because it increases Shield Toss damage by 10%, and its bounce by 1. Invigoration (Reaper) is the second-best Passive because it enhances Leech effectiveness by 20%. Improved Throw (Survival) is third in line because it only enhances Shield Toss damage by 10%.

Best Reaper Greater Passives

Let It Linger (Reaper) is the best Greater Passive to use because it applies a debuff based on the player’s equipped Shield’s damage type. Living Decay (Reaper) is the second-best Greater Passive because it grants Necrotic damage Penetration while also restoring health. Ignition (Mourn Watch) is third in line because it grants flaming weapons after defeating an enemy with a Weakpoint hit.

Best Reaper Traits

Perfect Throw (Reaper) is the Best Trait to use because it enhances the Charge level of Shield Toss to increase damage and the number of bounces. Death’s Throw (Reaper) is the second-best Trait because it changes Shield Toss damage into Necrotic damage. Return to Sender (Survival) is third in line because it sends incoming projectiles back at your attack with Perfect Defense.

Best Reaper Ability Upgrades

Supercharged (Survival) is the best Ability Upgrade because it increases damage against Barrier by 75% with Projectile Abilities. Reckless Shot (Reaper) is the second-best ability because it increases Projectile Ability damage at the cost of health. Death’s Touch (Reaper) is third in line because it applies Necrosis to the player’s Charged attacks if a Duration Ability is active.

Best Reaper Abilities

Reaper (reaper) is the best Ability it deals necrotic damage and slowly drains enemy health. Bloody Advance (Mourn Watch) is the second-best skill to use because it deals 364 necrotic damage and applies the Sundered effect. Titan Storm (Survival) is third in line because it deals 312 physical damage and also applies Overwhelm effect.

How to Play Reaper in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

The Reaper excels at blocking incoming attacks, rewarding you with a “perfect block.”  Players will see a yellow halo above your character, press the block button the moment the yellow becomes brightest. This will knock back the enemy and give you passive bonuses. Dodging is another way to create space and avoid incoming damage.  Unlike other RPGs and action games, Dragon Age the Veilguard doesn’t have a stamina meter. Thus, you can infinitely spam dodge.

Overall, if your timing is good, perfect blocking should be your primary defensive mechanism as a Warrior due to the passive bonuses with the perfect defense. The resource used to cast abilities and skills for the Warrior is Rage, which is gained when doing or taking damage. Rage decreases after a few seconds of not doing or taking damage, so stay aggressive. The range attack option for the Warrior is Shield Throw, which is activated by pressing the Q button on the PC.  The Shield Toss can be aimed and charged depending on your specialization and skill, and even hit weak points.

The Stagger mechanic rewards players for filling up the purple bar under enemies’ health by attacking them with light and heavy attacks. Once filled, players can execute a “takedown” which is a small cut scene where you do a “kill shot” or increased damage.

Pair your abilities with the Emmrich 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

Reaper specialization applies Lifesteal to enemies’ mid-combat, which can let you regen quicker and power through encounters easily. Prioritize using the Reaper, Bloody Advance, and Driving Kick are the best abilities to dominate any boss or powerful enemy in combat. Killer Instinct, Triple Threat, Return to Sender, and Fortifying Shots are the exception skills that help you defeat any enemy coming in your path. Pair your abilities with Emmrich’s and Neve’s abilities for the unique effect and additional damage. Activate the powerful Rune after using your skills to drain the enemy’s health in no time.

FAQs About the Reaper Skills in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Q1: Which are the best abilities for the Reaper in Dragon Age: The Veilgaurd?

Reaoer, Bloody Advance, and Driving Kick are the best skills to use while playing as a Reaper 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 Reaper in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?

Emmrich and Neve are the two best Companions that work well with the Reaper due to their unique abilities to apply or detonate the special effect on the target.

---

Looking For More?

Thank you for reading the Dragon Age: The Veilguard Best Skills for Reaper guide. We provide the latest news and create guides for Baldur’s Gate 3, Fallout 4, ARK Survival Ascended, and more. Also, watch Deltia play games on Twitch or visit his YouTube channel!

• Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Backgrounds (Factions) Explained
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard – All Companions and Everything We Know
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard Classes and Specializations
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard – All Playable Races
• Support us at Checkout Using Promo Code DELTIASGAMING (here)