Damage-dealers can come with the widest variety of all the role types in Dragon Age: Inquisition, considering any of the classes can competently do the job. Mages usually do the job from range, Rogues can do the job up close or from afar, and Warriors are exclusively melee.
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However, no one does the job quite like Iron Bull. Being a melee damage-dealer, Iron Bull is always in a bit more danger than some of his companions, but the danger is where he thrives. Putting Iron Bull in situations where you fear for his life brings out the best in him as he’s a high-risk, high-reward character.
Best Skills For A Low-Health High-Damage Iron Bull Build
Iron Bull’s unique tree, Reaver, provides him bonuses that are very much a roll of the dice. In the right situation, he’s going to stay on his feet and deliver some utterly outrageous damage. But unsupported, he’s going to fall with regularity.
Some skills will be needed to progress through a tree, but won’t play a role in this build. We’ll skip over detailing these skills, but they will still be included in the skill point totals.
The Best Skills In The Reaver Tree
The Reaver tree revolves around Iron Bull dealing an increasing amount of damage, relative to his percentage of missing health. While injured, Iron Bull is going to consistently deal extra damage, but he does have the ability to heal himself a bit, which helps him keep his feet.
|
Skill |
Upgrade |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Ring Of Pain (Active) |
Torrent Of Pain |
Create a portion of the fight that damages enemies inside, and allows Iron Bull to deal extra damage. The more injured Iron Bull is, the more damage this skill deals. With the Torrent Of Pain upgrade, this skill reduces the cost and cooldown of Devour, and reduces the self-damage that Dragon-Rage deals. |
|
Blood Frenzy |
N/A |
Iron Bull deals 5% extra damage for every 10% missing health. He also gains +3 Strength. (Strength increases a Warrior’s attack and also increases guard damage bonus.) |
|
Fervor |
N/A |
Iron Bull gains a 30% damage bonus for 5 seconds when an enemy dies within 10 meters of him. This gives +3 Cunning. (Cunning increases critical hit chance and ranged defense.) |
|
Rampage (Active) |
N/A |
Iron Bull attacks with extra speed and damage, and heals himself with every hit, for 10 seconds. |
|
Terrifying Fury |
N/A |
Hitting an enemy with a critical strike has a 25% chance to panic enemies. Iron Bull also gains +3 Cunning. |
|
Scenting Blood |
N/A |
Enemies below 35% health and within 10 meters of Iron Bull give him a 50% movement speed and 10% critical hit chance bonus. This will give Iron Bull +3 Constitution, too. (Constitution increases health and melee defense.) |
|
Devour (Active) |
Consume |
Iron Bull attacks an enemy, dealing more damage the less health Iron Bull has, as well as healing Iron Bull for a percentage of his lost health. With Ring Of Pain active, the healing Iron Bull receives is doubled. With the Consume upgrade, this gives Dragon-Rage a 25% better chance at critically hitting. |
|
Dragon-Rage (Active) |
Ravage |
At a cost of health for each blow, Iron Bull deals damage to enemies, doing more damage the less health he has. Ring Of Pain significantly increases the damage Dragon-Rage deals. The Ravage upgrade further increases that damage, and every hit reduces the cooldown of Devour, allowing Iron Bull to heal himself again quicker. |
- Total Skill Point Investment: 11
- Total Strength Gain: 3
- Total Cunning Gain: 6
- Total Constitution Gain: 3
Iron Bull’s Reaver abilities are going to be his most important, and most used. Largely, Iron Bull should only be using Devour and Dragon Rage while Ring Of Pain is active. But when it is, he can cycle between Devour and Dragon-Rage, dealing an incredible amount of damage and constantly bringing himself back from the brink of death.
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The Best Skills In The Two-Handed Tree
For the most part, all remaining skills are going to be most important when they’re passives, increasing Iron Bull’s efficacy while he’s using Reaver skills. That said, there is a time and place for the following active skills, too.
|
Skill |
Upgrade |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Mighty Blow (Active) |
Easy Target |
Damages and knocks enemies to the ground. Enemies already on the ground are dealt extra damage. |
|
Block And Slash (Active) |
Flawless Defense |
Iron Bull counters the next hit, damaging his enemy instead. With the Flawless Defense upgrade, this attack deals extra damage and Iron Bull gains 15% guard. |
|
Flow Of Battle |
N/A |
Every critical hit Iron Bull lands reduces skill cooldowns by 1 second. This also gives Iron Bull +3 Strength. |
|
Shield-Breaker |
N/A |
Critically hitting an enemy reduces their armor by 20% for 6 seconds. Iron Bull receives +3 Strength. |
|
Pommel Strike (Active) |
Lightning Jab |
Damage and stun Iron Bull’s target. |
|
Guard Smasher |
N/A |
Iron Bull does 100% extra damage to an enemy’s guard. He also gains +3 Strength. |
|
Clear A Path |
N/A |
Hitting multiple targets with a single swing restores 10% of Iron Bull’s stamina for each extra target. Iron Bull receives +3 Strength. |
- Total Skill Point Investment: 11
- Total Strength Gain: 12
Iron Bull gains a lot of extra strength in this tree, further increasing his damage. Most of his abilities here revolve around stunning or otherwise incapacitating his enemies. Iron Bull can get into trouble occasionally in the health department, and the ability to keep your enemy from attacking is going to do a lot to keep him alive.
This also avoids adding much guard to Iron Bull, ensuring he’s still taking damage to his health, and so dealing extra damage, without foregoing defensive capabilities.
The Best Skills In The Battlemaster Tree
There aren’t many skill points left to use, but what we do have left, we can put to good use in the Battlemaster tree.
|
Skill |
Upgrade |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Crippling Blows |
N/A |
Scoring a critical hit reduces an enemy’s damage by 15% for 10 seconds, and this effect can stack. Iron Bull gains +3 Strength. |
|
Combat Roll (Active) |
Roll With It |
Iron Bull can roll, allowing him to move where he needs to be quicker than running there. With the Roll With It bonus, Iron Bull can roll out of most incapacitating effects, and will keep him from getting killed while stunned. |
|
Coup de Grace |
N/A |
Iron Bull deals 30% extra damage to enemies that are stunned or knocked down. He also gains +3 Strength. |
- Total Skill Point Investment: 5
- Total Strength Gain: 6
We’re mostly here for the Combat Roll; since Iron Bull is operating at lower health with regularity, it makes getting stunned with him particularly troublesome. The ability to roll out of a stun quicker than normal keeps him from getting into those dangerous situations.
The Completed Low-Health High-Damage Iron Bull Build
All told, this build takes 27 skill points to pull off. But with those points, this build is capable of some of the most damage in the game, if not the most, period. Iron Bull is going to have an incredible amount of Strength with these skill choices, be dealing outrageous damage at lower health, but also be able to keep himself on his feet without much stress.
The finished Tactics slots will look like this:
- Ring Of Pain
- Rampage
- Devour
- Dragon-Rage
- Mighty Blow
- Block And Slash
- Pommel Strike
- Combat Roll
Alternative Builds For Iron Bull
Iron Bull can be pretty easily made into a hybrid tank/damage dealer, as well. Rather than go down the Battlemaster tree, delve into the Vanguard tree and grab War Cry, among other things. This build will sacrifice some damage, and concessions will need to be made in the Two-Handed tree, but with proper support, Iron Bull can play this hybrid role fairly easily.
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