Warrior with a shield and weapon
Hello everyone;) I decided to write my guide on the shield warrior since the previous one was, to put it mildly... Well, let's not dwell on that :) Playing as a warrior, we have 4 paths for our development: two-handed weapon warrior (quite good as a damage dealer, but the slow battle speed is somewhat annoying), dual weapon warrior (also cool, it's written about in another post), ranged weapon warrior (uhm..., I don't know if anyone has played it at all?) and finally, the shield and weapon warrior. This is what we will talk about.
Shield Warrior. Dragon Age: Origins
First, let's determine the choice of race. Basically, the choice does not play a special role in the game, but it's certainly better to start as a noble human or noble dwarf. They already have one point in the shield weapon skill school. However, if you want to play a character of a different biography, well, losing one point is not deadly)
Leveling Up: Attributes
Strength - the most important parameter for any warrior, whether he is a two-hander or a shield warrior. But that doesn't mean that all points should be invested here.
It's best to level it up to 42-44, and invest the rest into other important parameters.
Dexterity - our second most important parameter. Upgrade this to at least 26 points to get a passive ability that enhances all other skills related to the shield.
Willpower - definitely not a useless stat, as some might think. Raise it to a minimum of 25 so we can use our skills without stress.
Magic - level it up if you are under a very strong craving :) That is, don't invest here at all.
Cunning - up to 16 points. This is enough for leveling the skill "Influence".
Constitution - up to 20-22, since our health increases with each level, and from some items, so this will suffice.
I describe the level-up for a semi-tank, semi-damage dealer hero, meaning we protect our weaker teammates while actively engaging in fights.
Leveling Up: Skills
We get one skill point like mages for every 3 levels. Now I'll tell you where it's best to invest them.
Influence - Definitely level it up to the end as soon as possible, since it gives us more opportunities to negotiate, and thus we will control the flow of the game.
Stealing - Not needed, better leveled up with Leliana.
Survival - A decent skill. Allows you to determine the level of enemies and provides a bonus to resistance to nature forces, which grows with each level, along with a small bonus to physical resistance. If there are free points, invest them here.
Trap Making - Similar to stealing, pass.
Herbalism - A very useful skill that we don't need). Better level it with Morrigan or Wynne.
Poison Making - You can level up one point to be able to use poisons. Our poisoner :) is Zevran.
Combat Training - Our everything. Level it up alongside "Influence".
Battle Tactics - Better not to level up, since most of the time our character is under our control.
Leveling Up: Specializations
The warrior has access to 4 specializations: Champion, Templar, Berserker, and Ravager. They are all very different from each other, and each specialization has its own pros and cons. So let's figure out which one we need.
- Champion
Bonuses: willpower + 2, cunning + 1.
In my opinion, it is the best warrior specialization because it is useful for everyone. For a shield warrior, it is twice as useful, and now I will explain why.
- Battle Cry (activated)
The champion emits a battle cry, thereby reducing the attack power of enemies around him. This fully reveals itself when acquiring the last passive of champion skills.
- Approval (sustained)
An excellent sustained skill. Gives +10 to defense for all allies, including the champion himself. It greatly helps mages and damage-dealing heroes whose defense is low.
- Motivation (passively)
Enhances the "Approval" skill, adding another +10 to attack.
- Superiority (passively)
The main feature of the champion. Now when the "Battle Cry" skill is activated, enemies not only receive a penalty to attack, but they are knocked to the ground if they fail a physical resilience check. This way, we always control the course of the battle, saving ourselves and allies from an oncoming group of enemies.
- Templar
Bonuses: magic + 2, mental resistance + 3.
The templar is a slave to the narrowness of his specialization. It is solely focused on fighting mages. However, this does not mean that the templar is a bad specialization. As a very wise and good person once said: "10 genlocks are not worth one emissary". Moreover, it compensates for a significant deficiency of any warrior - it grants immunity to mental resistance, which he cannot boast of.
- Righteous Strike (passively)
In my opinion, the most useless skill of the templar. Overall, it consumes 3-5 mana. And since mages usually have a lot of mana, "Righteous Strike" does not give anything useful :(.
- Area Purification (activated)
A very useful skill for the templar, removing all negative effects from himself and allies. It excellently saves against