Dragon Age Origin Archer. Dragon Age Tips for leveling up, skills, classes, collecting a party

The choice of weapons and items in Dragon Age: Origins is very large, despite the lack of the usual crafting system. It is successfully replaced by ready-made sets of armor and one-piece weapons. Among ordinary things, sometimes there are unique ones, which most often have enhanced characteristics. Separate pages in the Code are devoted to the stories of their occurrence. Weapons and armor are sold from merchants in various parts of the world - Denerim, Orzammar, Lake Calenhad and Brecilian. The cost of things varies depending on the value. The most valuable specimens can cost several dozen gold coins, but all costs are more than recouped. High-quality weapons with special effects allow you to resist strong opponents.

Weapons can be stored in a chest on Soldier's Peak after installing and completing Guardian Fortress. Over time, an understanding comes of which weapons deserve attention and which are just ordinary trash that can be used for the time being, for lack of a better one. Each character in the squad is allowed to have two sets of weapons - the main one and the spare one. The set is selected by pressing the [/] key.

The best longswords in Dragon Age: Origins:

• Oath Keeper(strength: 15; damage: 8.40; +1.5 to armor penetration, +10% to received healing effects, 1 slot for runes) - for completing all tasks from the notice board in Lothering.
• Power of Asturian(damage: 8.40; +2 to damage, weakening of the creatures of darkness, +1 to armor penetration, 1 slot for runes) - Gray Guardians of Asturian.
• Green Blade(strength: 19; damage: 9.10; +10 to resistance to the forces of nature, +6 to damage against animals, 1 slot for runes) - the key to the chest on the second floor is with Bevin (the boy from the closet in Caitlin’s house in Redcliffe ). High levels of the “Influence” skill will help convince.
• Saw sword(strength: 19; damage: 9.10; +1 to damage, +1% to the chance of a critical strike in melee) - in the sarcophagus in front of the entrance to the hall of the Mistress of the Forest in the lair of werewolves in the ruins of Eastern Brecilian.
• Duncan's sword(damage: 9.60, +3 to willpower, +3 to cunning, +2 to restore stamina in battle, +4 to damage against creatures of darkness, 2 slots for runes) - a rebel ogre on the battlefield from the “Return” add-on to Ostagar."
• Maric's Blade(damage: 9.80, +0.75 to restore health and stamina in battle, +6 to damage against creatures of darkness, weakening of creatures of darkness, 2 slots for runes) - Kaylan’s chest in the royal enclave from the Return to Ostagar add-on.
• Spellweaver(battle mage, damage: 10.50; +5 to magic, +1 to mana recovery in battle, +10% to the chance to reflect hostile magic, +3 damage from electricity, 2 slots for runes) - sectarian overseer in a large northern hall in the caves of the cultists on the way to the Sacred Urn of Andraste.
• Imperial Blade(strength: 27, damage: 10.50; +2 to damage, +3% to the chance of a critical strike in melee, +6 to attack) - a small room in the Tevinter warehouse in the Elvenage after meeting with Denera.
• Overlander's Honor(strength: 31; damage: 11.20; +20 to resistance to spirit magic, +6 to damage against the dead, 3 slots for runes) - on the Deep Paths.
• Slashing Blade(strength: 31; damage: 11.20; +2 to armor penetration, +6 to attack, +3 cold damage, 3 slots for runes) - dead adventurers.
• Starfang(strength: 31; damage: 11.90; +3 to agility, +3 to damage, +2.5 to armor penetration, 3 slots for runes) - from the blacksmith Mikael Dryden from Soldier's Peak.

Best Shields in Dragon Age: Origins:

• Havard's Shield(strength: 22, defense: 4.00, fatigue: 3.36%, deflection of arrows and projectiles: 4.50%, +4% chance to reflect enemy magic, chance to dodge projectiles) - ogre on top of Ishala Tower .
• Kaylan's Shield(strength: 32, defense: 4.00, +1 to armor, chance to dodge projectiles) - a garlock from the front line behind the kennel from the Return to Ostagar add-on.
• Shield of Eamon(strength: 22; defense: 4.00; +6 to defense, +25 to endurance) - chest, storage on the top floor of Redcliffe Castle.
• Shield of Redcliffe's Chosen Warriors(strength: 32; defense: 4.00; +1 to willpower, +3 to defense, +15 to electrical resistance, +2 to attack) - for saving Earl Eamon.
• Shadow Wall(strength: 38; defense: 6.00; +3 to defense, +20% to received healing effects, +1 to recovery of stamina in battle, +25 to stamina) - after solving the mystery of the adventurers.
• Shield of Hou(strength: 38; defense: 6.00; +12 to defense, +10 to resistance to fire and cold, -2 to willpower) - chest, treasury in the estate of Earl Denerim before descending into the dungeon.
• Portable bastion(strength: 36; defense: 6.00; +1 to strength, agility and constitution) - Bodan Feddik in the main camp of the detachment.
• Duncan's Shield(strength: 38; defense: 6.00; +3 to willpower; +6 to defense, +1 to recovery of stamina in battle) - a secret vault of the Gray Guardians inside the trading warehouse behind the Curiosities of Thedas store in Denerim. Riordan tells how to get inside in Earl Eamon's room before, if you show him the Gray Warden documents found during the liberation of Queen Anora from the estate of Earl Denerim.

Best greatswords/greatswords in Dragon Age: Origins:

• Flat sword Hasind(strength: 20; damage: 12.10; +1% to melee critical strike chance, +1 to armor penetration) - chest, south central island with wolves behind the destroyed arches, on the side of the temple dome in the Korcari Wilds.
• Stan's sword(strength: 22; damage: 13.20; +1 to willpower; +1.5 to armor penetration, +12 to attack, 1 slot for runes) - after completing.
• Yusaris(strength: 34; damage: 16.50; +20 to fire resistance, +10 to damage against dragons, 2 slots for runes) - after defeating the Circle of Mages in the tower on Lake Calenhad.
• Sword of Summer(strength: 34; damage: 16.50; +20 to physical resistance, chance to knock the target down, 2 slots for runes) - Mrs. Coutren at the exit from the estate of Earl Denerim or in front of the Assembly of Lands hall.
• Ageless(strength: 34; damage: 16.50; +4 damage against darkspawn, +0.25 to stamina recovery in battle, weakening darkspawn, bloody mess, increased hostility and intimidation indicators) - solve the puzzle with the Throne of Orzammar in Orzammar royal palace. To do this, we approach the throne, activate it, a new entry “Locked in Stone” will appear in the Codex. We send two companions to the southwestern part of the room, stand on two tiles in the form of arrows near the wall, a characteristic sound (grinding) should be heard. We send the fourth companion into the hallway and stand on the round floor plate. Then we activate the throne with the main character. The satellites must remain in their places. Lightning will flash in the hall and a dragon will appear. We kill him and take the sword.
• Starfang(strength: 38; damage: 18.70; +3 to strength, +2.5 to armor penetration, +8 to attack, 3 slots for runes) - from the blacksmith Mikael Dryden from Soldier's Peak.

The best hammers, axes, maces and axes in Dragon Age: Origins:

• Clumsy verse(strength: 27; damage: 9.00; +2 to damage, happy, +10% to the chance of a critical hit or backstab, +4 to damage against dragons, 2 slots for runes) - pull out of the stump in the “Strange” location forest" during a chance encounter while moving across the global map to the Brecilian forest after eliminating D. by order of K. The advertisement is taken from an innkeeper with connections in "The Bitten Nobleman of Denerim."
• Ax of Temperance(damage: 9.00; +1.5 to armor penetration, +15% to the chance of a critical hit or backstab, 2 slots for runes) - Earl Rendon Howe in the dungeon of Earl Denerim’s estate.
• Wesiall(strength: 31; damage: 9.60; +2 to strength, +5% to the chance of a critical hit in melee, +1 to restore stamina in battle, +10% to the chance of a critical hit or backstab, + 2 damage from nature forces, 3 slots for runes) - Bodan Feddik in the main camp of the squad.
• Forge Master's Hammer(strength: 32; damage: 12.60; +25 fire resistance, +6 attack, 2 slots for runes) - genlock master of the anvil in the Dead Moats.
• Sacred Hammer(strength: 34; damage: 13.50; +2 to willpower, +10 to psychic resistance, +4 to damage against the dead, 2 slots for runes) - a vault in the southern wing of Banna Franderel’s estate in Denerim. .
• Triana Hammer(strength: 34; damage: 13.50; +4 damage against creatures of darkness, 2 slots for runes) - Belen, for his support during the resolution of the issue of the throne of Orzammar.
• Ax of Vaskhot(strength: 32; damage: 14.00; +1 to strength and damage, +2 to willpower, 2 slots for runes) - harlock general in the Trade Quarter of Denerim captured by the creatures of darkness.
• Hasinda Crusher(strength: 38; damage: 14.40; +3% to the chance of a critical strike in melee, -5 to attack) - sold by Farin at Frosty Pass in front of the doors of Orzammar.
• Great Hasindian Mace(strength: 38; damage: 14.40; +5 damage, +2.5 armor penetration, +0.5 stamina recovery in battle, +75 stamina, 3 slots for runes) - sold by Gorim from Denerim shopping district.

The best bows and crossbows in Dragon Age: Origins:

• Fox bow(agility: 26; damage: 7.50; chance of dodging projectiles) - weapon rack, storage on the top floor of Redcliffe Castle.
• New moon(agility: 30; damage: 8.00; +2 to willpower, +10 to resistance to the forces of nature, +1.5 to armor penetration) - Varathorn from the Dalish elf camp in the Brecilian forest.
• Wolfboy(damage: 8.40; +4 damage against the dead, +8 damage against beasts) - Varathorn from the Dalish elf camp in the Brecilian forest after delivering the iron bark.
• Spear thrower(agility: 30; damage: 9.00; fast aiming, +2.5 to armor penetration) - genlock master of the anvil in the Dead Moats.
• Golden Sun Bow(agility: 30; damage: 9.00; +4 to attack) - elf Denera, assistant to the slave trader Caladrius, in the Tevinter warehouse in the elfage of Denerim.
• Falon'Dina's Grip(damage: 9.60, +2 damage, fast aiming) - dragon treasure, upper level of elven ruins in Eastern Brecilian.
• Magician's Eye(agility: 34; damage: 9.60; +3% to the chance of a critical strike at a distance, +4 to attack) - chest, village shop in the village of Shelter.
• Bow Marjolaine(agility: 34; damage: 9.60; +3 to cunning and damage, fast aiming) - chest, Marjolaine's house in the Denerim Trade Quarter after the start.
• Antique Guardian Crossbow(strength: 14, damage: 9.60, armor penetration: 7.00, range: 44, +1 damage, fast aiming) - reconnaissance commander of the guards from Soldier's Peak from the Guardian Fortress add-on.
• Crossbow with improved grip(strength: 26; damage: 12.00; +1.5 to armor penetration, +4 to attack) - for completing orders from the Ravens from Master Ignacio in the “Bitten Nobleman” tavern in the Trade Quarter of Denerim.

The best daggers in Dragon Age: Origins:

• Olaf's Exceptional Cheese Knife(agility: 24; damage: 5.60; +1 to armor penetration, 2 slots for runes) - Olaf’s locked chest in the village of Honnlith, the key is on the corpse next to Sheila.
• Duncan's dagger(agility: 24, damage: 5.60, +4 to agility, +10% to the chance of a critical hit or backstab, +10 to damage against dragons, 2 slots for runes) - a rebel ogre on the battlefield from the add-on “ Return to Ostagar."
• Beastman Dagger(damage: 5.60; +10% to the chance of a critical hit or backstab, 2 slots for runes) - the fourth floor of the tower of the Circle of Mages.
• Extinct Thaig Shanker(agility: 26; damage: 6.00; +5 to cunning, +0.5 to armor penetration, +6 to attack, interrupts spells, 2 slots for runes) - a broken chest on the site with the ogre leader in the Kadash taiga from additions "Stone Prisoner".
• Thorn of the Dead Gods(agility: 26; damage: 6.00; +3 to damage and armor penetration, 2 slots for runes) - after being at the Caridin Crossroads.
• Gift of the Grays(agility: 26; damage: 6.00; +5% to the chance of a critical strike in melee, 2 slots for runes) - Valendrian after rescuing the slave trader Caladrius from captivity in the elfage of Denerim.
• Raven Dagger(agility: 30; damage: 6.40; +15% to the chance of a critical hit or backstab) - Godwin from the second floor of the Circle of Mages after delivering a parcel of lyrium from Rogek from the Dust City in Orzammar (you need to ask for the amount of 75 gold for the goods ).
• rose thorn(agility: 30; damage: 6.40; +2 to agility, +1 to health recovery in combat, +3 to damage, +5% to the chance of a critical hit in melee, +30% to the chance of a critical hit or hit in back, 3 slots for runes) - sold by Garin from the Common Halls of Orzammar.

The best staves in Dragon Age: Origins:

• Harrowmont's Staff(magic: 20; damage: 4.80; +1 to magic, +2 to constitution) - Harrowmont, for the support provided during the resolution of the issue of the throne of Orzammar.
• Sylvan's Mercy(magic: 24; damage: 5.20; +5 to resistance to the forces of nature, +1 to magical power, +10% to damage from the forces of nature) - Bodan Feddik in the main camp of the detachment.
• Vicious Staff(magic: 24; damage: 5.20; +1 to mana recovery in battle, +5 to magical power, -1 to willpower, +10% to damage from spiritual magic and electricity) - garlock general in captured by the creatures of darkness Elvenage Denerim.
• Oak Branch(damage: 5.20; +1 to magic, +2 to constitution, +10% to nature damage) - Great Oak from Western Brecilian for returning the acorn.
• A piece of wood(magic: 24; damage: 5.20; +1 to constitution, +10 to resistance to the forces of nature) - Varathorn from the Dalish elf camp in the Brecilian forest. Give the order to the mabari to look for something useful.
• The last argument(magic: 32; damage: 6.00; +3 damage, +10 magical power, +15% fire damage) - Bodan Feddik in the main camp of the squad.
• Breath of winter(magic: 36; damage: 6.40; distance: 58, magic power: 7; +25 to cold resistance, +15% to cold damage) - a frantic demon from the second floor of the Guardians' fortress on Soldier's Peak.
• Lord Magister's Staff(magic: 36; damage: 6.40; +6 to willpower and magical power, +2 to mana recovery in battle, +10% to damage from fire and spiritual magic) - sold by the quartermaster from the tower of the Circle of Mages on the lake Calenhad.

The best accessories in Dragon Age: Origins:

• Belt " Blessing of Andruil"(+2 to all characteristics, +20 to resistance to the forces of nature, +1 to restoration of mana and stamina in battle, +10 to physical resistance) - sold by the quartermaster from the tower of the Circle of Mages on Lake Calenhad.
• Ring " Zhivitel"(+10 to constitution, +3 to health restoration in combat and armor, +10 to health restoration outside of combat, +20% to received healing effects) - sold by Garin from the Common Halls of Orzammar.
• Ring " Key to the city"(+2 to all characteristics, +4% to the chance to repel hostile magic, +10% to received healing effects) - Council in the Diamond Halls, after finding five Codex entries in the residential areas of Orzammar.

Where should we start? The first thing you need to do is select the Rogue hero type when creating your character. The most optimal would be a person, since here you will get more dexterity and cunning.

What do you need to upgrade first? characteristics and what to ignore altogether?

At the beginning of the game, you need to invest points in agility until it reaches 28. This will allow you to unlock the “shooting master” skill and reduce misses, after which you should forget about it. Next, you upgrade your character to cunning - it affects the penetration of enemy armor, which simply melts over time.

If you change your mind about upgrading an archer, you can see the article on how to play more comfortably in close combat

Skills

Here you are lucky - you get one point every two levels.

— we study Influence for the main character - it will be very helpful in dialogues in the game;

— Combat training- another important skill for survival;

— Herbalist learn from Morrigan or Wynn;

— Survival We also study from a minor character;

All other skills are useless or very secondary for us.

Skills

This class doesn’t have very many skills that can be used, so here you will mainly have an auto attack. What do you need to download:

Dirty Fighting is a useful skill due to its 100% stun for 4 seconds;

Low blow - you will have to learn it simply because of the third skill in the branch;

Fatal blow - the situation is the same as with the previous one;

Lethality - it’s clearly worth learning because here you can play with replacing strength with cunning in the damage formula;

Skillful hands— learn two levels and then when you have extra points, add more;

Stealth- the main skill for us that we develop to the end.

Precision shooting— crits and other goodies due to the speed of fire;

Shooting Master- you need to get it as quickly as possible, since the skill speaks for itself.

Rapid fire— required at entry levels; you can tell by the name what it is responsible for;

Breaking Shot— a strong shot for fairly large and strong opponents;

Suppressive fire- a good mode that is especially suitable for bosses.

Explosive Shot- download it too, since the one you hit explodes and causes damage to everyone around;

When completing the Guardian Fortress expansion, you will be given something else:

dark passage— gives you evasion and in invisibility you move faster;

Infested Blade- Increases damage at the expense of vitality, but it's worth it.

Specializations

The most adequate ones here are Bard And Duelist. For a bard you need the “Song of Courage” skill, and for a duelist “Duel” and “Defensive Reflex”.

Party members

Everything is simple here:

— firstly, we put everything on for crit as indicated below;
— secondly, we take Sheila from the add-on with us;
- thirdly, we take and activate the abilities “Song of Courage” followed by “Perfection of Stone” and “Targeted Shooting”, which gives you a decent chance to hit the enemy in the head.

Items.

If you have any additions, here's what we recommend:

Bows

- put on Bregan's bow, which is given at the beginning subject to the installed addition;
- during the rescue of Redcliffe, get A distant song, which will serve you until the end;

Cloth

— Villain's Attire- in Wade's store in Denerim. Can be purchased after completing three story quests;

— Repeat offender's gloves— the “Return to Ostagar” add-on in the chest next to the training ground;

— Honnlith helmet— here the “Stone Prisoner” add-on will help you. Take from the corpse of the desire demon who will be in the village;

— Kadash's High Boots- the same addition as before. You can get it from an ogre in the Kadash tag;

— Blessing of Andruil— you buy this belt in the tower of magicians;

— House Days's Highest Honor— collecting all the records about golems in the “Golems of Agramrak” add-on;

— Key to the city- given for all records about the city of Orzammar, which are lying around there;

— Sunset Ring- go to Western Brecilian and kill the shadow in an abandoned camp;

That's actually the entire guide to the archer in which can help a lot if necessary.

Archer: review

Greetings! I noticed that the blog does not have any semblance of a guide on the archer, despite the fact that this class has traditionally been considered one of the main ones in role-playing games. It is also present in Dragon Age. Therefore, here I will try to the best of my ability to talk about the intricacies of this character in DA, his skills and method of leveling, about the basic mechanics of this class.

It’s worth noting right away that this guide is based on the passage of Dragon Age: Origins (as well as its add-on and all DLC without exception) with patch 1.04, exclusively on the “nightmare dream” difficulty, in a party and without the use of healing poultices, cans of lyrium and stamina. I mention this because your game as an archer may be completely different from mine if you're playing on a different difficulty level or an older patch, for example. I will also say that if you want to really seriously understand the mechanics of DA and get a complete understanding of the game's combat system, don't be afraid to play on the "nightmare", it's not scary ^^

So, let's begin!

Archer in Dragon Age: Origins

The first step on the path to becoming your archer is the character creation screen, where you select your archetype - Robber.

Archer: review

A Warrior can also become an Archer, but this is a completely separate topic. Only a more standard approach to creating an archer is considered here.

The choice of race makes virtually no difference other than a couple of extra stat points. Yes, the ideal choice would be a person with the highest levels of dexterity and cunning, but if you passionately love elves or dwarves, you should not deny yourself the desire to play for them.

CHARACTERISTICS

• Force- a completely unnecessary parameter for an archer in the original game and very important in the addon. But the addon is written below, but for now we ignore it
• Dexterity- it would seem that any robber should be pumped up first. But it's not that simple. However, be sure to invest the first 5 points that you are given to distribute yourself into this characteristic
• Strength of will- forget about her. Just forget and never remember. A good archer uses very few active skills, and you will always have enough for a couple
• Magic- an even more useless parameter for a bow. We forget
• Cunning- meet, this is Cunning - the most important characteristic for an archer in the original game. But don't worry about her just yet. You'll need it later
• Body type- you are a clever and skinny damage dealer, growing fat is not your thing. Ignore throughout the game

Cunning or dexterity?

From what was written above, it turns out that 2 parameters are important for us - dexterity and cunning. And here it is important not to make a mistake in the priority and order of its pumping. If you miss here, for the rest of the game your archer will deal 50 damage with a basic attack and be a very sad sight compared to any other damage dealer.

So, all points after the start of the game should be invested in agility until its mark reaches 28 . The main reason to level up agility at the very beginning is that it will allow you to smooth out the problem with misses, which is very, very relevant at the first levels. Once Agility reaches 28, you can forget about it. Why download exactly to this number? Because 28 points are required to learn the “shooting master” skill, which is described in more detail in the corresponding section.

All other points that you receive throughout the game must be invested in cunning. Believe me, you won't regret it. It is the “cunning” archer that deals significantly more damage in comparison with his “dexterous” brother due to the high “armor penetration” parameter and skills that depend on the value of the cunning indicator.

Armor Penetration

Archer: review

This parameter reduces the enemy's armor. The principle is elementary: take your opponent’s armor and subtract your armor penetration value from it. Example: the enemy has 20 armor, you have 8 penetration points. All your damage to the enemy will be the same as if he had 12 armor. The penetration acceleration limit is 41 units. I haven’t achieved this myself, I’ll have to trust third-party sources.

Unfortunately, the magician's telekinetic weapon spell gives a bonus to armor penetration only for melee weapons. For an archer, penetration is increased only by the skills “aimed shooting”, “master of shooting”, equipment and the cunning indicator itself. For each point of cunning, approximately 0.14 armor penetration is added.

Note: a low strength value often does not allow you to wear the armor you like. In this case, put on as many items as possible (for example, jewelry) that give bonuses to strength, then put on the necessary armor and return the old items to their original place. Such manipulations allow you to pump up only one necessary characteristic to the maximum without wasting time on others necessary for putting on gear.

SKILLS

Unlike magicians and warriors, you will receive 1 skill point every 2 levels (rags and canned goods are content with 1 point every 3 levels). Therefore, you will have a lot of choice in leveling up your skills.

• Influence- should be studied in full and as soon as possible. DA has a huge amount of dialogue, and the long tongue that grows with this skill can lead to many interesting turns in conversations
• Theft- not a priority, but it won't hurt. If you have nowhere to put your skill points/don’t have enough money, you can teach a lesson
• Survival- in the group there must be one character with this skill, learned to its limit. Whether it is your archer or someone else is up to you. I’ll add on my own that given the 20% resistance to the forces of nature and 2 units of physical resistance that the full line of survival gives, it’s more logical to teach this skill to a tank
• Making traps- Let's face it, if you are going through the game with a party, you don't really need traps. Their production will hit your pocket, while the benefits from them are not obvious. On the other hand, it’s very pleasant to see other people’s traps from afar. Well, if you are doing solo playthroughs, you obviously need to learn this line. Although if you bend DA solo, you already know it yourself
• Herbalist- Wynn or Morrigan are much better suited for this purpose than your hero
• Making poisons- honestly, I don’t understand at all why in DA poison can only be used on melee weapons, but it is so. Alas, you won’t be able to lubricate the arrowhead with poison and shoot a star between the enemy’s eyes, poisoning him with some nasty thing - poisons and lubricants do not affect bows. However, you can make and use bombs, which may compensate for your problems with AoE damage; This is especially true at the beginning of the game. So if you have a passion like you need bombs, learn
• Combat training- it is necessary to teach. There is nothing to comment here
• Battle tactics- no need. It’s better to work with your hands than to leave your character to the conscience of the AI, which can suddenly become dull even in the simplest situation

SKILLS

The archer is not a class that can boast of a variety of skills. More precisely, the skills themselves are sufficient, but God forbid at least half are actively used. Your shooter will deal the main damage with an auto attack, don’t forget this.

All skills will be considered from the point of view of their usefulness specifically for the owner of a bow; it is assumed that you will not take daggers as your second weapon (which you don’t need to do, because the DPS will immediately drop). I won’t write here how much stamina this or that skill costs, what its cooldown is or its in-game description. You can read all this in the game itself. Here we will describe the real usefulness and exact characteristics that the creators did not bother to attribute to the descriptions of skills in the game.

Let's start the analysis by looking at the general branches of the robber. Unfortunately, Bioware distributed priorities in robber skills in a very strange way - it is obvious that the rogue class itself was tailored for a dagger and the archer is, let’s say, “not welcome.”

Four branches of the robber

We've sorted out the general skills of robbers, let's move on to the skills of an archer specifically. All three branches must be taught all the way. The desired sequence is described below.

First branch of archer

Learn all the skills of the first branch as quickly as possible. You definitely need to take a “shooting master” and the sooner the better.

Second branch of archer

Learn the second branch as a last resort, when you already have the remaining archer skills and the basic skills of a robber. The only useful thing here is the Killer Arrow. The remaining shots are never used anywhere. They are useless and activate too slowly.

Third branch of archer

You will learn the first skill at the stage of creating a character, and you will return to the rest after becoming a “shooting master”.

Separately, we note 2 skills that are taken when completing the DLC “Fortress of the Guardians”. After drinking a suspicious red bottle we get:

Blood Power

SPECIALIZATIONS

The optimal choice of specializations for your character will largely depend on the composition of the party and what you want to get from it. I suggest you make a choice yourself, I will only analyze the general usefulness of the specs and describe all the skills, just in case, so that their usefulness/uselessness does not raise questions.

Murderer

In specializations, we again encounter the game creators' dislike for archers. Otherwise, how can we explain that, say, out of 4 killer skills, only 1 is universal? Yes, only the first one should be taught from it. Whether it’s worth taking a specialization just for the sake of a “tag” is up to you to decide.

Bard

In this spec, oddly enough, again only one skill is important - “song of courage”. There is no point in even learning the last skill, but it is better to refuse to use the first two and remove them from the panel.

Duelist

The "duel" mode makes this specialization attractive to study as the first at level 7, when attack is still lacking. The third and fourth skills are useful, but they are not absolutely necessary. Here everything will be decided only by your desire and the number of free skill points.

Pathfinder

ABOUT THE PARTY

The Archer in Origins is very party dependent. Without it, his DPS will drop greatly, and he himself will quickly die. Therefore, the selection of party members must be approached wisely.

The first two slots in the party can, in principle, be taken by anyone you like. The most reliable option will be a healer + a tank-knight. However, of course, you can try other builds to suit your taste.

But the main point of forming a party will be the presence of Sheila in it (DLC “Stone Captive”). Having her Stone Perfection buff is a must for a good archer. It gives 10% increased critical strike chance at range and significantly increases the rate of fire.

About accelerating critical strike chance

Archer: review

The archer's DPS is accelerated primarily by increasing the crit chance. Ideally it should be 100%. So you need to accelerate it as much as possible. How to do it? Nothing complicated.

1) You need to put on the hero all the things that give bonuses to the chance of crit. They are listed in the "Equipment" section.

2) Take Sheila into the party.

3) Include in the required sequence all the skills that increase this same critical rate. The order is:

Note 1: when you enter the radius of the “stone's perfection”, you get +10% crit chance, after turning on the “targeted” mode it doubles, that is, we can say that from this Sheila buff you always have +20% crit rate. However, it can be overclocked to +40% with the help of a small bug: after moving between zones (for example, the floors of the Circle Tower), you will receive an extra 20%, you just need to turn off and turn on “aimed shooting” again while in the field of effect of Sheila’s buff. But if you go beyond it, the effect will disappear. Moreover, this doubles not only the chance of a crit, but also the acceleration of the rate of fire, which also gives the “perfection of the stone.” It may sound confusing in words, but in practice it is easy to understand.

Archer: review

I take this opportunity to say hello to the funny guy who drew this animation for Sheila’s buff. In many locations, it can be very difficult to discern the boundaries of the aura.

Note 2: Balm of Agility and the mage's haste spell reduce the archer's shooting speed instead of increasing it. Yes, this is a bug. Forget about the balm right away, but “acceleration” can be used to quickly roam around the location, despite the bug - fortunately, the bonus to the rate of fire from the “recidivist gloves” covers the slowdown that “acceleration” gives to your rate of fire. It turns out that one bug fixes another. So it goes.

EQUIPMENT

Weapon

The first thing you need to know about ranged weapons in DA is that there aren't many of them. There are only a few truly good things, so choosing from them is not difficult. Below is a table with the types of weapons and their properties, with which you can see what the difference is.

Types of Ranged Weapons in Dragon Age

Note: Damage, Armor Penetration, Range and Crit Chance parameters are represented by the maximum values ​​of level 9 weapons from Awakening. This is done for greater clarity.

Name	Options
LONG BOWS They deal good damage and shoot from a long distance, but they do it a little slower than short bows. Used with arrows. Archer: review Archer: review	Attribute 50% strength, 50% agility Aiming time Damage Armor Penetration Crit chance Distance
SHORT BOWS The low damage and shortened firing distance (almost 2 times compared to longbows!) are compensated by the rate of fire. However, even it is not much higher than that of large bows. Used with arrows. Archer: review Archer: review	Attribute 50% strength, 50% agility Aiming time Damage Armor Penetration Crit chance Distance
CROSSBOWS The characteristics of a crossbow may be impressive, especially the huge firing distance and colossal damage, but do not forget that this miracle of technology shoots much slower than bows. Used with bolts. Archer: review Archer: review Unfortunately, crossbows in the game are not usable as weapons due to a bug: their damage is not affected by either strength or dexterity. As a result, they are completely outclassed by bows. The difference in damage between the crossbow and the longbow (both level 7) in the final stages of the game for me was about 50 units in favor of the latter.	Attribute Aiming time Damage Armor Penetration Crit chance Distance

Now about the choice of weapons. Your tool of labor from the very beginning to the middle of the game will be Bregan's bow(is a DLC item). Good damage, low agility requirement (can be equipped already during the intro) and a bonus to attack, which is so lacking at the start.

Archer: review

With it, it will be much easier for you to overcome the first levels, which for an archer are the most difficult in the game.

Note: the strange inscription on things “+X% to the chance of a critical hit or backstab” should be understood as “+X% critical/backstab damage”, that is, an increase in crit power.

Then, while completing the quest to save Redcliffe, you can and will need to change it to A distant song, with which you run to the bitter end.

Archer: review

However, if the process of obtaining this bow contradicts the moral values ​​of your hero, you are not playing DA for the first time and have already completed the “Witch Hunt” DLC, then you can run with Arlathan's sorrow. His damage is slightly lower, but his chance of crit is higher.

Archer: review

Cloth

The best armor option for a bowman in the game is Villain's Attire(Wade's shop in Denerim will be available for sale after completing 3 main story quests in any order).

Archer: review

As gloves you should choose repeat offender gloves(Return to Ostagar DLC, in a chest near the training camp).

Archer: review

There is a nice bug associated with this item: instead of accelerating the speed of fire by 0.3 seconds (like most things with the “fast aiming” parameter), they give an acceleration of as much as 3.0 seconds. Apparently someone at Bioware messed with the numbers, which is, however, very useful to us. With these gloves and Sheila’s buff, you can safely turn on “aimed shooting” and not worry about the rate of fire.

Note: The material level of the repeat offender's gloves, like some other items in the game, depends on the character level at which you find them in the game. It's very easy to get around this - sell the item to the merchant, save the game, load it and contact that same merchant and buy the item back. The material from which the item is made will increase in level according to the level of your hero (for example, if you sell repeat offender gloves from some sad skin at level 18, then when you buy them back, they will already be made from dragon skin).

Best helmet - Honnlith helmet(DLC "Stone Prisoner", dropped by the desire demon in the village).

Archer: review

It would be nice to put it on your feet Kadash's High Boots(drops from the ogre in the Kadash taiga, again the Stone Prisoner DLC).

Archer: review

Bijouterie

Belt - Blessing of Andruil(sold in the Mage Tower)

Archer: review

Amulet - House Days's Highest Honor(DLC “Golems of Amgarrak”, you need to collect all the records about golems).

Archer: review

Rings - Key to the city(you need to find all the records about gnomes in Orzammar)

Archer: review

And Sunset Ring(Western Brecilian, abandoned camp, falls from Shadow).

Archer: review

And a little more about crit chance

In addition to the above things, there is another good option for equipment - to collect gear for the chance of a critical hit, because with this very chance you will have problems almost the entire game and you need to increase it by any means, because DPS very much depends on it. The bow should crit constantly. In addition to the already mentioned Distant Song, Sorrow of Arlathan and the high boots of Kadash, the following things will help you with this:

helmet Farsightedness(drop from the high dragon on the mountain)

Archer: review

And Archer's Belt(sold in the camp near Bodan)

Archer: review

Archer in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening

Archer: review

As soon as the addon for DA was released, many reviews began to write that “almost useless in the original, the archer became a complete imbecile in the addon.” In fact, in the addon, absolutely all classes became impersonators, and it became indecently easy to play. But on the archer it is most noticeable. The gameplay for him in Awakening is more like Diablo than the original game and is characterized by the phrase “snap everything alive” with the occasional use of several skills. You can easily complete the addon solo on the “nightmare” without bothering with traps and stealth.

If you decide to become a real imba, I advise you to transfer the character from the original, otherwise you will not be able to achieve truly impressive results in overclocking the characteristics. Once you have fought off the attack on the Vigil Tower at the beginning, you should go out into the courtyard and buy a book from Herren "Focus tutorial". With its help, you will have to redistribute all your characteristics, specializations and skills, because the archer mechanics in the add-on are radically different from the original game.

CHARACTERISTICS

• Force- don't put anything here. Leave it at 10
• Cunning- pull it to 22's points to calmly learn 4 levels of stealth, lockpicking and all the necessary skills, and then forget
• Dexterity- the most important thing. Invest all the points you earned through back-breaking labor in the original, which you will have left after investing in cunning, here, as well as ALL the points that you will receive with each new level
• Magic, willpower, physique- still not a single point

It is noticeable that the archer has completely changed. Dexterity receives so much attention because of the colossal bonuses from the “precision” skill. And high agility, in turn, gives a side effect - sky-high defense and attack. Almost no one will be able to hit you and you will quickly feel like superman.

Further questions arise. Should strength or cunning be the second parameter? Do I need to take the “lethality” skill and change the formula or can I do without it? The answers will depend on the number of skill points you have. If you have nowhere else to put them, feel free to take “lethality”. If you feel sorry for spending 3 points, then you won’t lose that much (the parameters of cunning and strength, after learning the “Reconnaissance Legionnaire” specialization, will be approximately equal and only because of the gear you will have a little more cunning), in the addon there is a change The formula is not nearly as important as in the original.

Note: as the main plot progresses, you will again be brought into the Shadow, where you can once again (in the original it was a quest in the tower of magicians) increase all your characteristics thanks to the essences placed in the world of dreams. If you have the spirit of a real munchkin, do not forget to buy the “Focus textbook” again when you get out into the real world and distribute the points again. Still, extra points in magic or physique will clearly be less useful to you than pumped-up agility.

SKILLS

• Influence, theft, survival, combat training, battle tactics- all of them have not changed at all in the addon and everything that is said about them in the Origins section is also relevant here
• Making traps- there is absolutely no need for an addon, even if you play solo
• Herbalist- Stamina banks have appeared in Awakening, which you may even use 1-2 times per game. Teach Anders or Velanna a lesson just in case
• Making poisons- since the archer has 2 new AoE skills, bombs are no longer needed even theoretically
• Making runes- someone from the detachment must be taught a complete lesson. Who it will be is up to you
• Vitality and clarity- teach your hero to the maximum. +100 to health and stamina never hurts

Fifth branch of the robber