There’s a lot of variance in character builds in Dragon Age: Inquisition, and few classes have more variance than Rogues. This class has a lot of room for interpretation, able to build itself to accentuate a few different strengths that are present in the skill trees.
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Cole’s unique skills in the Assassin tree provide him the chance to fully flesh out one of the more fun strengths that Rogues have: dealing increased damage with every hit. This tree can interact with a few different trees present by default with the Rogue, and this build makes use of a few of them.
Best Skill Choices For An Assassin Build
Assassin is Cole’s unique tree, and it’s a key aspect of this build. Alongside that, we’ll be diving into both the Double Daggers tree and the Sabotage tree (as well as exactly one skill from the Subterfuge tree); all of these trees work towards the same goal, and are going to allow Cole to unleash a lot of attacks in a short time, and these attacks are going to deal an alarming amount of damage.
The Best Skills In The Assassin Tree
The Assassin tree is one of the most free-standing unique trees that any of the characters have. It doesn’t necessarily revolve around mechanics that a different tree provides, and can instead slot into a lot of different builds very smoothly.
One of the biggest strengths of this build overall, and one that this tree helps push further, is critical damage. Cole is going to be hitting a lot, running those good odds of scoring critical damage very often.
We’ll be skipping mentioning skills that are needed to grab to progress through a tree, but don’t play a pivotal part of this build. They will still be counted in the total skill point costs. If necessary, you can always respec to either switch into this build, or to tinker with it.
|
Skill |
Upgrade |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Hidden Blades (Active) |
Overkill |
With the Overkill upgrade, Cole attacks enemies six times, dealing 300 percent of weapon damage. |
|
Throatcutter |
N/A |
Deal 2 percent extra damage for every ten percent of health an enemy is missing. |
|
I Was Never Here |
N/A |
Killing a target recharges Cole’s stealth cooldown. This also increases Cole’s Dexterity by +3. (Dexterity increases a Rogue’s attack, and increases the critical damage bonus.) |
|
Knife In The Shadows |
N/A |
Attacking from stealth ensures a critical hit. This also increases Cole’s Dexterity by +3. |
|
Gaps In The Armor |
N/A |
Increase armor penetration by 25 percent, as well as increase Cole’s Dexterity by +3. |
|
Mark Of Death (Active) |
N/A |
Marks an enemy, and dealing damage to a Marked enemy increases the Mark’s power. Detonate the Mark before the ability deactivates to deal bonus damage. |
- Total Skill Point Investment: 8
- Total Dexterity Gain: 9
Aside from the important boost in Dexterity, these skills provide a passive backbone to a lot of Cole’s attacks. On top of that, Hidden Blades and Mark Of Death are going to be regulars in his damage rotation.
The Best Skill In The Subterfuge Tree
There’s only one skill we’re going to grab from the Subterfuge tree for this build, and it’s the very first: Stealth. We’re also going to grab the upgrade for this skill, Lost In The Shadows, which allows Cole to enter Stealth immediately. Going in and out of Stealth is going to be a staple for this build, and this skill is a non-negotiable inclusion.
- Total Skill Point Investment: 2
The Best Skills In The Double Daggers Tree
The Double Daggers tree is going to be a busy one in this build, with a heavy skill point investment. But it’s going to be worth it, with a lot of bonus damage available in this tree that’s going to improve every single attack.
|
Skill |
Upgrade |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Flank Attack (Active) |
Skirmisher |
Leap through an enemy to attack them from behind, gaining any flanking damage bonus Cole has. The Skirmisher upgrade automatically enters Cole into Stealth after using this ability, ensuring that your next attack deals critical damage due to the Knife In The Shadows skill. |
|
Twin Fangs (Active) |
Ripping Fangs |
Deal damage to the target twice, with increased damage when attacking from the flank. With the Ripping Fangs upgrade, attacking from the flank also Sunders. |
|
Bloodied Prey |
N/A |
Deal 10 percent extra damage to foes with less health than Cole. Also increases Cole’s Cunning by +3. (Cunning increases critical chance and ranged defense.) |
|
Dance Of Death |
N/A |
Gain 50 stamina for every kill, as well as increases Cole’s Dexterity by +3. |
|
Unforgiving Chain |
N/A |
Every hit increases critical chance by two percent until Cole scores a hit, resetting the chance. Also increases Cole’s Dexterity by +3. |
|
Sneak Attack |
N/A |
Increases flanking damage by 20 percent, as well as improving Cole’s Cunning by +3. |
|
Deathblow (Active) |
Thrill Of Victory |
Deal damage twice, with an extra three percent more damage for every one percent below 50 health an enemy has. For instance, if an enemy has 37 percent health, this skill will deal an additional 3% * 13%, giving a 39% bonus. With the Thrill Of Victory upgrade, killing a target with this ability removes the cooldown on it. |
- Total Skill Point Investment: 10
- Total Dexterity Gain: 6
- Total Cunning Gain: 6
The passives in this tree are foundational to the build, and the active abilities, especially Deathblow, add an incredible amount of damage to the rotation.
The Best Skills In The Sabotage Tree
The Sabotage Tree is the final stop in this build, as we’re running out of skill points. But, there are still some important things here that are going to add a flat increase to our damage in the form of poison and bleed.
|
Skill |
Upgrade |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Poisoned Weapons (Active) |
Infected Wounds |
With the infection wounds upgrade, this causes 50 percent extra weapon damage per second on an enemy hit by Cole’s blades for 8 seconds after the last attack. |
|
Caltrops (Active) |
Tread Lightly |
Litters the ground with Caltrops, slowing and damaging enemies that walk over them, as well as causing bleed. |
|
Fighting Dirty |
N/A |
Increases poison and sunder duration by 25 percent, which would increase the Poisoned Weapons skill effect to 10 seconds. Also improves Cole’s Dexterity by +3. |
|
Looked Like It Hurt |
N/A |
Each critical hit regains ten stamina. This also increases Cole’s Cunning by +3. |
|
Explosive Toxin |
N/A |
Enemies that die while poisoned explode, inflicting poison on every enemy inside three meters. This also increases Cole’s Dexterity by +3. |
- Total Skill Point Investment: 7
- Total Dexterity Gain: 6
- Total Cunning Gain: 3
The poison effects from this tree are going to meaningfully increase Cole’s damage output, and improve the value of skills like Deathblow and Throatcutter.
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The Completed Cole Assassin Build
This build costs 27 skill points overall, and is going to constantly deal a barrage of damage while leaving Cole difficult to keep track of and even more difficult to hit. With a tank like Cassandra or Blackwall beside him, he’s going to remain in the background, dealing an absurd amount of damage without having to worry about dying, himself.
The finished Tactics slots will include:
- Hidden Blades
- Mark Of Death
- Stealth
- Flank Attack
- Twin Fangs
- Deathblow
- Poisoned Weapons
- Caltrops
Alternative Cole Options
You could skip the Sabotage skills in lieu of including more Subterfuge skills; this will increase your stealth options, making Cole more maneuverable and give him the ability to put enemies to sleep. Overall, this would make for a slightly more defensive build, but in party lineups with a weaker tank, this could be viable, or even necessary.
