Best Rogue Builds in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Like players have seen in many other games through the years, rogue builds in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are a mix of rapid melee combat and deadly ranged headshots. You may not know what style you prefer early on, but the ability to refund skill points and respec at any time means can constantly make changes to find the rogue build that best fits your style.

If you're starting a new game and want to optimize things right out of the gate, having a path in mind and pairing it with a complementary faction will make a big difference. Before you get deep into the endgame and start toppling dragons on a regular basis, make sure you're using the best rogue builds in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Best Rogue Builds in Dragon Age Veilguard

If you're at character creation in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, choosing some of those details might feel overwhelming without knowing all the potential impacts. First off, choosing your race for a rogue build is entirely up to personal preference. Each option will give you some unique dialogue options throughout the game, and you may want to go with a race that aligns with a companion you're already drawn to.

Choosing a faction is a bit trickier, but don't fret too much about optimizing this. The only build we've outlined below that leans heavily on a specific background is Veil Ranger, but even that build will be plenty powerful without the extra Veil Jumpers boost. Veil Jumpers pair well with an elven character, as this will give you unique dialogue with Bellara and set the Veil Jumpers up to be a massive ally as the game rolls on.

However, it's more important to pick the faction you feel most fits your character. This helps you solidify an identity and priorities for your character, but you can always find yourself drawn in other directions as the game rolls on. There's nothing wrong with kicking the game off with Lords of Fortune as your faction only for your biggest allies to become the Shadow Dragons or Antivan Crows.

Below, we've outlined three of the best rogue builds in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Each has their own unique strengths tied to a particular specialization, and the best fit will depend on your own strengths in combat. All of these builds are outlined up to Level 40, but you can respec and make tweaks while leveling up or choose some other skills entirely should something else better bolster your skills.

Best Ranged Rogue Build (Veil Ranger)

• Best Faction: Veil Jumpers
• Best Abilities: Reeling Bolt, Lightning Quiver, Storm's Path
• Best Ultimate: Twin Gifts of Arlathan
• Best Traits: Exploding Arrow, Evasive Maneuvers, Bated Breath, Hunter's Focus, Sniper's Triumph, Archer's Rhythm,
• Best Greater Passives: Endure, Keen Eye, Precise Power, Debilitating Shocks, Light Armor Mastery, Poisonous Precision, Knock Out, Close Quarters Combat, Victory Rush, Unending Quiver, Leaping Shot, Hamstring, Opportunity Shocks, Storm's Call, Death Blow

If you're looking to focus on ranged attacks and hitting weakpoints (headshots), this Veil Ranger build is a perfect path to take. Picking the Veil Jumpers faction will increase your critical and weakpoint damage, and this full build will be using plenty of that. Early on, you'll likely want to use Rain of Decay, Static Strikes, and Concussive Barrage until you have the skill points to reach the stronger options listed above.

Ultimately, this build is going to give you massive electric damage and let you shock both groups and solo enemies. The passives include several bow bonuses, some momentum boosts, stagger increases, and more. You'll want to focus on headshots, and you can use rapid fire bow hits to help build up your momentum when needed. Use Exploding Arrow, Evasive Maneuvers, and Leaping Shot to help get out of melee range in a pinch.

Best Melee Rogue Build (Duelist)

• Best Faction: Mourn Watch, Antivan Crows, or Grey Wardens
• Best Abilities: Explosive Daggers, Lightning Flask, A Thousand Cuts
  
• Best Ultimate: Murder of Crows
• Best Traits: Riposte, Evasive Maneuvers, Decisive Finale, Adrenaline, Mounting Thrill, Shall We Dance
• Best Greater Passives: Endure, Downfall, Momentous Occasion, Swift Death, Triple Threat, Sly Strike, Necrotic Fog, Medium Armor Mastery, Poisoned Reply, Blood Poisoning, Overwhelming Tactics, Swift Rebuke, Perseverance, Energy Burst, Deflection, Convert Energy

If you prefer close combat, this Duelist build is honed to stack necrotic damage on top of rapid strikes, charged attacks, and momentum gains. You can use Hurricane of Blades and Toxic Dash until you gain access to the stronger abilities listed above. There are a few best faction options to pick from, and it will depend on your own preference. Antivan Crows get an extra potion that's very helpful when you spend so much time in melee range, Lords of Fortune make takedowns easier to execute, and Grey Wardens have their base defense and health increased.

They're solid picks if you're worried about not being a master at dodges and defense, but Mourn Watch gives you an additional affliction stack that does wonders with the necrotic focus in this build. Another trademark of the build is Triple Threat, a passive that boosts ability damage if you're using three different damage types. A Thousand Cuts will be your go-to in single combat, Explosive Daggers does great damage while applying sundered for companions to detonate, and Lightning Flask is a massively powerful close combat ability that will blast away those around you and give you an aura while you follow-up with melee attacks.

Best Versatile Rogue Build (Saboteur)

• Best Faction: Grey Wardens, Shadow Dragons, Lords of Fortune, Antivan Crows
• Best Abilities: Reeling Bolt, Explosive Trap, Fortune's Turret
  
• Best Ultimate: Fortune's Fury
• Best Traits: Evasive Maneuvers, Exploding Arrow, Bated Breath, Leaping Shot, A Messy Death, Plague Arrow
• Best Greater Passives: Endure, Downfall, Keen Eye, Close Quarters Combat, Victory Rush, Eclectic Armorer, Unending Quiver, Fan of Arrows, Pounce, Some Motivation, Swift Rebuke, Perseverance, In the Fray, Inspired Takedowns

If you'd rather have a more versatile build with strong options at range and in close quarters, this Saboteur build is a fantastic base for it. You can tweak it a little more towards melee or ranged based on preference, but the bulk of this one is about utilizing tool abilities to dictate pacing and distance in battle. With that in mind, look to grab any upgrades that power up tool abilities.

While you're working towards stronger abilities, you can get plenty of use out of Static Strikes, Rain of Decay, and Pilfer. Just make sure to respec a bit and refund later on, as you can usually save a few skill points once you've got the stronger abilities you'll actually be using. You've got the most versatility here on best faction, as several can bolster this build. The Antivan Crows' extra potion as well as Grey Wardens' health and defense boosts are great passive options to make you harder to kill. Shadow Dragons give a very helpful momentum gains boost, and Lords of Fortune makes takedowns a bit easier.