Dragon Age Inquisition Archer Guide

Dragon Age Inquisition Archer Guide by Salsadips

Video Example here. Threatening difficulty as usual.

Abilities

• Leaping Shot (Evade Ability. 12 Projectiles at 50% weapon damage each. 12s cooldown. 35 Stamina cost. Upgrade gives your next shot a 200% damage bonus and knocks the target down)
• Long Shot (200% weapon damage with +600% at 15+ meters. 8s cooldown. 50 stamina cost. Detonates incapacitated foes. Upgrade lets you hit multiple targets with bonus damage that are behind your first)
• Full Draw (800% weapon damage + 800% if target is at full health. 24s cooldown, 65 Stamina cost. Upgrade puts target to sleep for 20s)
• Mark of Death (Stores 100% damage while active, then deals it when activated again (effectively doubling all damage for 8s). 32s cooldown, 10 stamina cost. Upgrade grants 20% armor reduction.)

Passives

• First Blood (15% damage to enemies with more than 80% of their health remaining. +3 dexterity)
• Cheap Shot (Critical hits sunder armor for 6s. +3 cunning)
• Bloodied Prey (10% damage bonus to all enemies who have less health than you. +3 cunning)
• Strafing Shots (100% Speed Bonus when firing. +3 Dexterity)
• Pincusion (Each consecutive hit on a target does 5% more damage each time for 10s. +3 dexterity)
• Gaps in the Armor (25% Armor Penetration. +3 dexterity
• Fury of the Storm – (10% damage bonus when under 50% stamina. +3 constitution)
• Cripple – (slows enemies hit from behind by 50% for 3s. +3 dexterity)
• Dance of Death (+50 stamina on kill. +3 dexterity)

Unlock Order

Get Leaping Shot and Long Shot upgraded first (level 5), then go straight to Full Draw, then Mark of Death (level 11). Get Dance of Death (level 14), then Pincusion. Then fill out the rest of your points as you desire. I also upgrade MoD, but not full draw.

Strategy

Lead the fight with Full draw to immediately take out the highest value target (dual wield rogues, Fear Demon, Brutes, Templar Knights), then target the ranged units with Long Shot. If melee units get too close then just pop a Leaping shot and knock them down with the follow up. Leaping Shot is also great vs Shield Bearers and Demons (as they cannot block). When the Demon Commanded uses his Fear attack, Leaping shot will clear you of its radius. I use this skill while Long shot is on cooldown.

Long Shot will ricochet off enemies and hit ones behind them. For long shot to hit multiple enemies, the 2nd hit does not need to be directly behind the 1st. Long shot deals progressively higher damage for each successive target, meaning you can kill several enemies with 1 shot this way.

For Pride Demons, Behemoths, Guardians and Bosses, Mark of Death will help take these guys down incredibly quickly. Lead the fight with one, follow up with Full Draw and some auto attacks, then when the boss drops below 50% health, activate MoD again and watch your target die. For Bosses, just let it run out. You won’t be able to kill them in 1 cycle of course, so its best to have them absorb as much damage as possible first.