Dragon Age: Inquisition offers some diverse action-packed combat, with more than one combat mode, normal and tactical, customizable party set-ups, and players being able to choose from one of three classes, each of which has a further three specializations to choose from.
Additionally, foes can be just as varied, with large hulking dragons to defeat, battles with waves of enemies, and many unique monsters with their own abilities. For anyone who is new to the game, or anyone struggling to make the most of their Inquisitor and their companions, we've got some handy tips to help you out when you need it the most.
11 Plan Your Skill Tree in Advance
When you first start, your own skill tree and those of your companions are naturally rather lacking. As you progress through the game and level up you will be able to spend skill points on more abilities to make your character even better. It's wise to look over the available skill trees and pick out the skills/spells you'll be needing the most.
As abilities can only be unlocked when you approach them on the tree by unlocking others, you should pick the most beneficial route to get to the skills you want as there are branching paths. The barrier spell, healing spells, and revival should be prioritized on the Spirit Tree for mages so you have a decent support/healer as soon as possible.
10 Make the Most of Tactics and the Tactical Camera
The Tactics menu under the Character Record for each of your companions is invaluable in choosing which of their abilities you want them to use, not use, and prioritize the most. Additionally, you can change their default behavior, such as who they target or when they use potions to replenish their health.
Furthermore, you can switch to the Tactical Camera mode while in a battle to better control your party. This is especially helpful for getting your party members to move out of AoE or away from danger. You can also give set instructions, such as making your tank defend party members.
9 Pick Your Party Carefully
While it might be tempting to choose your favorite characters and head out on adventures, you should build your party carefully. It's recommended you have a tank, a healer, and then two DPS roles.
Though you have more than one character of each class, they all have their own unique specializations later on. Choose a party that would benefit you the most and you should ensure your companions are specced appropriately so they can fulfill their role efficiently. For example, when it comes to wanting a mage as a healer, be sure to level up that Spirit Tree to get the best healing and defensive spells.
For this reason, you should not neglect any companions, even if you don't use them often. Spec them differently from others of their class so you have a wide range of strengths to choose from, and keep their gear up to date too.
8 Don't Be Ashamed to Run Away
When the going gets tough, don't be afraid to run away to live to fight another day. There's no shame in running from difficult enemies if your party starts to wipe, and as the areas that you visit become increasingly difficult, you'll find the enemies wandering around might just surprise you with how hard they are.
Even if your party mostly wipes, run away with your remaining character and once you are far away enough, your party will revive and spawn next to you. Additionally, the health of your enemies will not replenish. This is particularly helpful when attempting Hard/Nightmare difficulty mode runs. However, this little trick doesn't work for fade rifts.
7 Take Down the Weakest Enemies First
All your battles will be a whole lot easier if you take down the weakest enemies first and this is generally the golden rule in any game. Taking out the little guys will ensure they stop pestering your party and then you can all focus on the main threat.
Furthermore, there are certain situations in Inquisition, where if you ignore the adds, it can prove deadly. Many of the High Dragons have a roar that can inflict stun, leaving their adds to eat away at you while you're incapable of defending yourself.
6 Prioritize Schematics
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The gear that you and your party members wear is highly important as otherwise, enemies will just plow right through you. One of the biggest tips we can give you is not to purchase weapons and armor, but to prioritize schematics, even early on in the game.
Crafted gear is always so much better than any you can find or purchase from merchants. Additionally, if you use fade-touched ingredients when crafting, it will add guard for the character in question, which is very important. For example, if you use a Fade-Touched Silverite ingredient for a schematic, it will add the following enhancement, "On hit: gain 5 guard".
4 Set Barrier to Preferred for Your Mages
Barrier, much like guard, provides an additional health bar that must be depleted before enemies can actually do real damage to your HP. Ideally, you want to have both active on your party, giving you a secondary and tertiary health bar. Regardless of the order in which they were applied, barrier will be depleted first, then guard, then your HP.
In order to make the most of the barrier spell, players should go into the Character Record of their mages and set it to preferred, so that the AI uses it more frequently and prioritizes it over other spells. Unlike barrier, guard does not decay over time and cannot be dispelled.
3 Get a Specialization
Once you reach Skyhold, you will be able to undertake the "Specializations for the Inquisitor" war table operation. Complete this (it takes no time or power) and three trainers will appear to offer a different specialization for your Inquisitor's class, though you can only choose one and each requires you to complete a quest first.
Each specialization has its own pros and cons, so you'll have to pick which is best for your character based on what role they fulfill in your party. However, be sure to get a specialization regardless of which you choose, as your character will be better for it and there is no benefit to remaining without one. Additionally, all of your companions will have their own unique specialization too, so be sure to check their skill trees out and level them accordingly.
2 Potions, Grenades, and Tonics
One of the biggest bugbears that fans have about Inquisition is that your health and that of your companions does not automatically regenerate. As well as ensuring your mages are ready to keep you healed up, you should also prioritize your potions, grenades, and tonics, all of which will be handy in battle.
Be sure to buy the recipes for these, keep upgrading them, and choose the Inquisition perks that allow you to carry more of each. Additionally, heal up and use all your potions before interacting with a supply cache, as this will replenish them afterward anyway.
1 Party Position
The position of your party members can be super important and you'll want to make the most of the Tactical Camera to control where your companions are. Tanks should be front and center, taking the brunt of the damage, whereas you'll want your DPS and support to be to the sides usually, especially with dragons who can tail whip you if you're behind them.
Having your party members fairly close together can help, as keeping a tighter formation ensures your mages can cast barrier on everyone more easily, and it also means your enemies will be grouped together so rogues can flank their enemies better. On the other hand, you might want your ranged DPS further away to avoid most of the carnage while still contributing to the battle from a safe distance.