Tired of not being able to disarm traps in Dragon Age: Origins?  Reading “Insufficient Skill” pop-ups again and again is enough to make any player frustrated.  Now it’s time to lay down some devastating traps of your own.  Revenge is sweet.

Dragon Age: Inquisition allows rogues with the Artificer specialization to make use of traps to create incredible combos that deal staggering damage, all while taking advantage of the rogue’s high mobility in battle.

1.  Artificer Archer

The Artificer Archer is arguably a classic approach to the Artificer specialization.  Since party member and series icon Varric is an Artificer, his iconic crossbow Bianca encourages players to explore the Artificer Archer path.

This build is focused on making the most of the Archery tree and enhancing abilities with Artificer traps.

The Artificer Archer Excels In:

• Setting up helpful combos to help the party succeed
• Protect other Rogue and Mage companions with ranged attacks

Build the Artificer Archer:

Recommended Skill Trees:

• Archery (entire tree)
• Artificer

Recommended Abilities:

• Poisoned Weapons + Infected Wounds
• Leaping Shot
• Long Shot
• Explosive Shot + Chain Reaction
• Full Draw
• Elemental Mines
• Hail of Arrows
• Fallback Plan

Recommended Passives:

• Looked Like It Hurt
• First Blood
• Pincushion
• Set Them Up
• And Take Them Down
• Opportunity Knocks
• Tricks of the Trade

2.  Unstoppable Blades Artificer

Though it’s tough to separate Varric from Bianca, this aggressive build may be worth it.  The Unstoppable Blades Artificer allows players to dive in and out of direct combat.  The build focuses on a devastating combo of Throwing Blades and Spinning Blades, making your Inquisitor or dwarven companion an unstoppable force.

The Unstoppable Blades Artificer Excels In:

• Using Throwing Blades and Spinning Blades as a devastating combo
• Fast aggressive attacks that quickly take down enemies

Build the Unstoppable Blades Artificer:

Recommended Skill Trees:

• Double Daggers
• Sabotage
• Artificer

Recommended Abilities:

• Flank Attack + Skirmisher
• Spinning Blades + Neverending Spin
• Caltrops
• Throwing Blades + Precision Targeting
• Poisoned Weapons + Infected Wounds
• Toxic Cloud + Lost in the Mist
• Stealth + Lost in the Shadows
• Knockout Powder + Deep Sleep
• Spike Trap
• Elemental Mines

Recommended Passives:

• Bloodied Prey
• Unforgiving Chain
• Looked Like It Hurt
• Cheap Shot
• Fighting Dirty
• Explosive Toxin
• Easy to Miss
• Opportunity Knocks
• Set Them Up
• And Take Them Down

3.  The Melee Archer Artificer

Archers often play from a distance, but this build favors a more direct approach to combat.  The Melee Archer makes use of high mobility to throw themselves into the heat of battle and back out again, favoring a more aggressive approach to each fight.

The Melee Archer Artificer Excels In:

• High damage attack combos 
• Increased mobility to weave in and out of combat

Build the Melee Archer Artificer:

Recommended Skill Trees:

• Archery
• Sabotage
• Stealth

Recommended Abilities:

• Leaping Shot + Rolling Draw
• Explosive Shot + Chain Reaction
• Hook and Tackle + It Beats Walking
• Throwing Blades + Precision Targeting
• Stealth + Lost in the Shadows
• Spike Trap + Pyrotechnics
• Elemental Mines + Throw Everything

Recommended Passives:

• Death from Above
• Pincushion
• It Looked Like It Hurt
• Cheap Shot
• Easy to Miss
• Set Them Up
• Opportunity Knocks

4.  Rapid Cooldown Artificer

This “super spammy” build is practically broken, perfect for players who are looking to dominate their next playthrough.  Rapidly resetting cooldowns allows this build to continuously deal out combos one after another.  It devastates with area damage that can easily incapacitate and defeat large groups of enemies.

The Rapid Cooldown Artificer Excels In:

• Making use of cooldown resets to deal frequent combos
• Deal devastating AoE damage

Build the Rapid Cooldown Artificer:

Recommended Skill Trees:

• Double Daggers
• Sabotage
• Subterfuge
• Artificer

Recommended Abilities:

• Twin Fangs + Ripping Fangs
• Death Blow + Thrill of Victory
• Throwing Blades + Precision Targeting
• Stealth + Lost in the Shadows
• Evade + Hidden Step
• Shadow Strike + Quick Blade
• Spike Trap + Watch Your Step
• Elemental Mines + Throw Everything

Recommended Passives:

• Dance of Death
• Sneak Attack
• First Blood
• Pincushion
• It Looked Like It Hurt
• Cheap Shot
• Evasion
• Easy to Miss
• Set Them Up
• And Take Them Down
• Opportunity Knocks

5.  Sabotage Artificer

The Sabotage Artificer build is a fantastic option for flexible play, easily usable by both archers and dagger-wielding rogues.  Utilizing the entire Sabotage tree focuses this Artificer on dealing high and lingering damage to enemies.  Inflicting poison damage on each enemy as the Sabotage Artificer slips in and out of stealth allows them to chip away at an entire group.  By the time a companion warrior or mage throws out an AoE attack, they can finish the job with minimal effort.

The Sabotage Artificer Excels In:

• Stacking damage combos with poison effects
• Flexible build open to both rogue weapon types

Build the Sabotage Artificer:

Recommended Skill Trees:

• Artificer
• Subterfuge
• Sabotage (entire tree)

Recommended Abilities:

• Spike Trap
• Elemental Mines + Throw Everything
• Stealth + Lost in the Shadows
• Evade
• Shadow Strike + Long Shadows
• Poisoned Weapons + Infected Wounds
• Caltrops
• Hook and Tackle + It Beats Walking
• Toxic Cloud + Contact Poison
• Throwing Blades + Precision Targeting
• Leaping Shot + Shot from the Shadows

Recommended Passives:

• Opportunity Knocks
• Set Them Up
• And Take Them Down
• Evasion
• Fighting Dirty
• Looked Like It Hurt
• Explosive Toxin
• Cheap Shot
• Death from Above
• Dance of Death
• Sneak Attack

You May Also Be Interested In:

• Dragon Age: Inquisition Best Class - What To Pick?
• [Top 10] Dragon Age Inquisition Best Builds
• [Top 10] Dragon Age Inquisition Best Weapons And How To Get Them
• Dragon Age Inquisition Best Race - What To Pick?
• Top 10 Games Like Dragon Age: Inquisition (Games Better than Dragon Age: Inquisition In Their Own Way)
• Dragon Age 4 Release Date and 10 Things We Want to See