Discover how to create the best DPS build in Avowed, with recommendations for skills, attributes, weapons, companions, and leveling progression!

Avowed is a first-person RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. Set in the Pillars of Eternity universe, the game takes place in the Living Lands, where you are uncovering a secret mystery. DPS builds are designed to eliminate enemies swiftly, reducing the duration of combat encounters. You can modify your DPS build by selecting abilities from various trees – Fighter, Ranger, and Wizard.
DPS build is particularly advantageous when facing multiple enemies or challenging foes. This build focuses on dealing high DPS from a distance or close range while maintaining agility and stealth. The game Avowed can be complex in terms of combat and gameplay and features action-oriented combat with a mix of melee, ranged, and magic-based abilities. Players can wield weapons in one or both hands, use spells dynamically, and customize their character’s abilities and playstyle. In this guide, we aim to tell you about all the elements of a beginner build and how to get the best start in the game.
Everything You Need To Know About DPS Build Guide in Avowed
Our DPS build focuses on attributes and abilities that deal damage per second to enemies in combat. The War Hero background is ideal for a DPS build in Avowed. It provides a strong foundation in key physical attributes. The attributes boost your damage output, health, and stamina, which are essential for close-quarters combat. Investing in specific abilities like Charge and Clear Out from the Fighter class will enhance your combat effectiveness. It’s best to pair your Fighter class skills with other classes’ skills to make a perfect DPS build. Your primary weapon is the one-handed sword, Grimoire (Off-hand), and Bow is your secondary weapon for this damage-per-second build.
The key attributes for this class are Might, Perception, and Dexterity. Allocate some points on Might to increase physical damage output, which is crucial for maximizing melee attack effectiveness. Each point in Perception increases your critical hit chance by 2%. Dexterity boosts your attack speed by 3.5%, allowing for more frequent attacks. Marius and Yetzil are the best companions who complement your DPS build to enhance your combat effectiveness and overall gameplay experience.
DPS Build Pros | DPS Build Cons |
---|---|
High Damage Output | Low Defense |
Combat Versatility | Low Support Skills |
Engaging Gameplay | Resource Management |
DPS Build Features & Mechanics
Below are the essential best DPS build features and mechanics for Avowed:
- Background: War Hero
- Attribute Points: Might, Perception, and Dexterity
- Weapon Choices: One-Handed Sword, Grimoire, Bow
- Best Skills: Meteor Shower, Blood Magic, Arcane Veil
- Recommended Companions: Yetzli, Marius
- Best Consumables: Fine Aedyran Mead, Fruitful Wine, Krakenhorn
Background

War Hero is the best background for a DPS build, providing a strong foundation in key physical attributes. Background plays a pivotal role in shaping your role-playing experience. It affects your dialogue options and determines your starting weapon during the tutorial. Your initial allocation of attribute points across six stats is also influenced. However, they do not restrict your access to any equipment or abilities as the game progresses.
Regardless of your background, you can use any equipment and abilities. Avowed enriches your character’s backstory and provides initial attribute distributions and dialogue options by selecting the background. War Hero provides a strong foundation for melee-focused DPS builds, emphasizing physical strength and stamina. The high Might attribute boosts overall damage output, making it ideal for close combat specialists.
Attribute Points

Might, intelligence, and Perception are the best attributes to focus on for the best DPS build in Avowed. Might increase your damage from all sources and enhance carry capacity. Allocate points to Might because it enhances the damage output of both physical and magical attacks. Perception, on the other hand, increases critical hit chance and maximum weapon range, making it ideal for DPS builds aiming for maximizing critical hits.
Intelligence helps with max essence and frequent spell casting. Several God Totems can provide attribute enhancements. You will also gain attribute points when you progress and gain experience, your character levels up. Boost your attributes with food and consumables or permanently via companions.
At a max level of 30, you can select 27 attributes, not including passive permanent bonuses given by companions. Below is our recommended attribute points selection for the DPS build:
- Might: 15
- Constitution: 2
- Dexterity: 0
- Perception: 4
- Intellect: 5
- Resolve: 1
Weapon Choices

One-handed Sword, Grimoires, and Bow are the best weapons to use for the DPS build in Avowed. The one-handed sword can deal melee damage in close-range combat, while Grimoires allows for spellcasting to deal massive damage. The Bow, on the other hand, is your ranged weapon, allowing you to deal damage from a safe distance in long-range combat. Each weapon type comes with unique strengths, so selecting the one that complements your playstyle is crucial.
One-handed melee weapons paired with a Grimoire can deal high DPS in combat. This allows your character to be more flexible in the game. Use spells to stun the enemies and attack with your best one-handed sword to deal heavy damage. Proper strategy is required when using the one-handed sword as your primary weapon and Grimoires as an off-hand weapon. Sword provides swift melee attacks, enabling you to deal consistent physical damage. Wielding a grimoire in your off-hand allows you to cast potent spells like Fan of Flames without fully committing to the Wizard class.
Practice using the bow to enhance your archery skill, improving the draw speed. This weapon is excellent for stealth or ranged combat but is difficult in close quarters. You cannot block with a bow, making you vulnerable if enemies get too close. You can headshot with the Bow to defeat the enemies in one shot, allowing you to save ammo. Bow allows for stealth attacks, dealing moderately high damage.
Perfect Block
The Perfect allows you to parry the enemy attacks, knock back targets, and immediately counterattack. It causes the attacker to stagger and create the opportunity for a counter-attack. This is effective for players who prefer a defensive combat style. You can unlock the Parry ability from the Ranger skill tree to increase proficiency with Perfect Blocks. Precise timing is crucial for the success of a Perfect Block. However, blocking and counter-attacking consume stamina. We recommend you invest some skill points in Parry and Reflect to increase your blocking capabilities. Successfully executing a perfect block not only mitigates incoming damage. Perfect block offers you counterattack opportunities, enemy control, and stamina conservation.
Skill Selection
The game allows you to unlock skills at each level, starting at 2. One level gives you one more skill point to place in one of three skill trees. You can mix and match skill trees, but you can synergize Fighter skills and Wizard skills for the DPS build. Moreover, you can reset skills at any time with gold, though it gets more expensive the more levels you increase.
Levels 1-10 Skills

Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best DPS Build for Avowed from levels 1 to 10:
Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1 | None | ||
2 | Arcane Veil Rank 1 | Wizard | Invokes a powerful arcane shield for 20 seconds that makes your spell casting Uninterruptable and increases your Damage Reduction by 50%. |
3 | Minor Missiles Rank 1 | Wizard | Summon 3 magical projectiles that seek out enemies |
4 | Survivalist Rank 1 | Ranger | Food restores 20% more Health and Essence and bonus effect durations are increased by 20%. |
5 | Shadowing Beyond Rank 1 | Ranger | Channel the Beyond, becoming Invisible and draining Essence until your next combat action |
6 | Grimoire Mastery Rank 1 | Wizard | Unlock level 5 Grimoire spells and decrease the Essence cost of all Grimoire spells by 10%. |
7 | Constant Recovery Rank 1 | Fighter | After taking damage, slowly regeneration 50% of the last amount of health |
8 | Shadowing Beyond Rank 2 | Ranger | Gain increase speed and damage |
9 | Arcane Veil Rank 2 | Wizard | Reflects ranged projectiles |
10 | Blood Magic Rank 1 | Wizard | When Essence is depleted, you may continue casting by reducing your Health by 150% of the Essence cost. |
Levels 11-20 Skills

Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best DPS Build for Avowed from levels 11 to 20:
Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|---|
11 | Bristling Frost Rank 1 | Wizard | Unlocks Brislting Frost |
12 | Power Slide Rank 1 | Ranger | Slide through enemies and knock them down |
13 | Power Jump Rank 1 | Fighter | Slam to the ground by pressing crouch while in the air to interrupt nearby foes. The AoE and amount of stun dealt are based on the fall height. |
14 | Grimoire Mastery Rank 2 | Wizard | Unlock level 10 Grimoire spells and decrease the Essence cost of all Grimoire spells by 15%. |
15 | Spirit Lance | Wizard | Unlock spirit lance skill |
16 | Pull of Eora | Wizard | Pulling 2 nearbya enemies and suspending them in the vortex |
17 | Grimoire Mastery Rank 3 | Wizard | Unlock level 15 Grimoire spells and decrease the Essence cost of all Grimoire spells by 18%. |
18 | Arcane Veil Rank 3 | Wizard | Melee attackers are knocked back |
19 | Bear Ally Rank 1 | Ranger | Summon Bear Ally |
20 | Blood Magic Rank 2 | Wizard | When Essence is depleted, you may continue casting by reducing your Health by 125% of the Essence cost. |
Levels 21-25 Skills

At levels 21-25, you want to increase damage per second potential with high-level skills. You can use the one-handed weapon at the beginning but shift to a two-handed weapon for additional damage per second.
Below is a list, in order, of the skills for the Best DPS Build for Avowed from levels 21 to 25:
Level | Skill Name | Tree | Description |
---|---|---|---|
21 | Inspiring Triumph Rank 1 | Fighter | Killing enemies restores 10% of your Companion’s Maximum Health. |
22 | Grimoire Mastery Rank 4 | Wizard | Unlock level 15 Grimoire spells and decrease the Essence cost of all Grimoire spells by 20%. |
23 | Meteor Shower Rank 1 | Wizard | Unlocks Meteor Shower skill |
24 | Scion of Flame Rank 1 | Wizard | Increase fire accumulation by 20% |
25 | Meteor Shower Rank 2 | Wizard | Adds damage over time |
Best DPS Skills Explained
The best skills for DPS build in Avowed are Arcane Veil, Blood Magic, and Meteor Shower. Arcane Veil gives you a damage bubble and lowers incoming damage while wearing light armor. It acts as magic armor and can be cast preemptively to avoid getting killed. Blood Magic helps you contiunally cast spells when out of magic, just make sure you have Giatta healing you. Lastly, Meteor Shower is your huge area damage spell with fire. You want to take the Scion of Flame passive to boost the overall fire damage this does and is used for multiple target kills.
Another important skill is Arcane Seal. Once you get rank 2, you can make food that surpasses the need for potions, increasing your survivability dramatically. Arcane Seal increases Essence regeneration and casting efficiency. It conjures a seal at your feet that lasts for 30 seconds when activated. Each skill is useful during the gameplay, so choosing the best one is crucial as it can save your life.
- Grimoire Mastery: this passive is required to unlock more powerful spells as you progress. Moreover, it reduces the essence cost, making it more effective and easier to cast spells repeatedly.
- Arcane Veil: At level one, this is your bubble spell that protects you from incoming damage. You can front-load this spell before going into combat, giving you high damage reduction even in light armor.
- Meteor Shower It rains down destructive meteors, dealing great damage and leaving lingering flames.
- Blood Magic: This skill allows you to continue casting spells using health when the essence is depleted.
- Arcane Seal: Conjures a seal that regenerates Essence and increases ability cast speed, slowing enemies within its range.
Companions
Selecting the Companions in Avowed that complement your DPS build is crucial for maximizing combat efficiency. The companions can increase your offensive capabilities, provide crowd control, and offer essential support. Marius and Yatzli are the best companions for DPS build in Avowed. Yatzli is a ranged magic damage dealer who excels in delivering high burst damage from a distance. This makes her an excellent companion for players focusing on melee or physical DPS builds.
Arduous Delay of Motion is her crowd control ability that can hinder foes, allowing you to take control over the battlefield. Her Blast ability ensures that attacks affect multiple enemies, which further increases overall damage output. Marius is a crowd-control companion, and his ability, like Binding Roots, allows you to focus on dealing damage without being overwhelmed by multiple foes. Enhance your combat effectiveness with his DoT effects and dealing support. Use Marius’s Heart Seeker’s ability to increase damage dealt to low-health enemies.
Yatzli

Skill 1 | Skill 2 | Skill 3 | Skill 4 |
---|---|---|---|
Essence Explosion | Minoletta’s Missile Battery | Arduous Delay of Motion | Blast |
Increases the size of the blast caused by Essence Explosion. | Increases the rate of fire for missiles from Minoletta’s Missile Battery. | Creates an area of effect that afflicts all enemies within its radius. | Deals explosive damage, breaking enemy Blocks, destroying walls, and shattering frozen enemies for bonus damage. |
Marius

Skill 1 | Skill 2 | Skill 3 | Skill 4 |
---|---|---|---|
Binding Roots | Heart Seeker | Shadow Step | Wounding Shots |
Entangle enemies | Increases damage dealt to low-health enemies | Devastating Blow | Damage over time |
DPS Gameplay & Tips
Use companions like Yatzli and Marius to complement your DPS build. Marius provides crowd control abilities, and Yatzli serves the role of ranged magic dealer. Focus on attributes like Might, Perception, and Dexterity to boost your DPS capabilities in the game. Choose the one-handed sword, Grimoires, and Bow to tackle enemies in combat but shift to advanced weapons after reaching level 20. Mastering combat techniques Parry, Dodge, and Perfect Block are essential to enhance your combat effectiveness.
Combine the Fighter skills with the Wizard and Ranger class’s skills to enhance your effectiveness. Use the grenades to deal damage over time. Equip a bow and start from stealth by crouching and shooting an arrow at the highest damage-producing target. Upgrade your weapon and armor to maintain peak performance. Coordinating with companions enhances combat effectiveness and creates opportunities for DPS attacks. It’s best to gather resources for crafting and upgrading equipment. Use the ability like Steady Aim to increase accuracy and critical hit potential.
Weapons and Armor
Beginner Weapon and Armor
Slot | Item | Bonus |
---|---|---|
Weapon 1 | Sheathed in Summer | 20 Physical Damage 8 Stun 9 Stamina Cost 9% Critical Hit Chance |
Off-Hand | Anextli’s Grimoire | -28% Ability Cost -15% Cooldown |
Secondary Weapon | The Long Touch | 54 Physical Damage 56 Stun 12 Stamina 9% Critical Chance |
Armor | Arcanist’s Gambeson | 8% Damage Reduction -15 Maximum Stamina -20 Maximum Essence |
Gloves | Death Knight Gloves | -10% Stamina cost while blocking +15% Frost Damage |
Boots | Vailian Boots | +5 Carry Capacity |
Trinket | Berath’s Blessed Ward | -5% damage from Vessels |
Ring | Ring of Pain Amplification | +15% Critical Damage |
Ring | Ring of the Founder | +10% Damage against enemies will full Health |
Endgame Weapon and Armor
Slot | Item | Bonus |
---|---|---|
Weapon 1 | The Emperor’s Reach | Boost to Attack and Movement on enemy kill |
Off-Hand | Eilara’s Grimoire | -68% Ability Cost -45% Cooldown |
Secondary Weapon | Ancient Alacrity | Slow the hit enemy by 15% for 5 seconds. |
Armor | Councilor’s Grab | 5% Damage Reduction 70 Additional Damage Reduction -20 Maximum Stamina -10 Maximum Essence |
Gloves | Sentinel Gloves | +15% Stun -50% Stamina Cost while blocking |
Boots | Berserker Boots | -10% incoming Fire, Frost, and Shock Damage |
Trinket | Cartographer’s Companion | +1 Dex, +2 Perception |
Ring | Disciple’s Ring | +60 Maximum Essence |
Ring | Ring of Greater Overseeing | +20% area of effect damage |
Consumables
Fine Aedyran Mead grants +2 Perception and +10% Maximum Essence for 300 seconds. Fruitful Wine provides +2 Constitution and +5% damage reduction for 300 seconds. Krakenhorn allows you to gain +2 Resolve and +5% Maximum Stamina for 300 seconds. You need to take three points into the survivalist skill in the ranger tree. Once unlocked, you can craft advanced food and buffs that drastically increase your survivability, damage, and regeneration.
FAQs about DPS in Avowed
What is the best DPS build in Avowed?
The best DPS build uses a one-handed sword, Grimoire, and Bow. It provides you survivability and damage per second within a range or melee.
Which is the best Background for a DPS build?
War Hero is the best background for a DPS build, providing a strong foundation in key physical attributes.
Which are the best skills for DPS build?
Clear Out, Grimoire Mastery, Blood Magic, and Retribution are the best skills for the DPS build. These abilities not only allow you to deal massive damage per second but also provide more survivability in the game.
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