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Origins | Ostagar | Lothering | Circle Tower | Warden's Keep (DLC) | Return to Ostagar (DLC) | Stone Prisoner (DLC) | Brecilian Forest | Redcliffe | The Urn of Sacred Ashes | Orzammar | Deep Roads | Denerim | Final Onslaught |
Aldarion | Alistair | Leliana | Mabari War Hound | Morrigan | Oghren | Shale | Sten | Wynne | Zevran | |
ZEVRAN, ELVEN ASSASSIN / DUELIST
Strength 20 Dexterity 34 Willpower 20 Magic 14 Cunning 16 Constitution 10
Starting Inventory
Talent Selection
In previous run throughs I used to have Zevran pick up whatever leather armors and daggers were left after Leliana had first dibs. After a while it felt like Zevran was just picking up the scraps. So I started to invest some thought into how Zevran could become a uniquely powerful character in his own right. Here I make a case for an exclusively melee-based Rogue that combines the Duelist and Assassin specializations together. There are some essential ingredients for this build.
Maximum Defense: The Dueling sustained talent (augmented by Keen Defense), the Dual-Weapon passive abilities, pumping up Dexterity, and item bonuses work together to put the Rogue's defense through the roof. This Rogue build can wade into the thick of it with little fear of dying.
Maximum Attack Rating: Again, the Dueling sustained talent, Dual-weapon passive abilities, pumping up Dexterity, and high item bonuses means the Rogue will rarely miss.
Maximum Critical Hits: The inherent bonus to melee critical chance from the Assassin specialization, item bonuses, and the Lethality talent will make this Rogue build a beast for landing critical hits. Zevran's chance of scoring critical hits ranged from 36% to 39%, and that was even before Leliana's Song of Courage kicked in during those occasions they worked together. Some hardcore Dragon Age buffs like to engage in extensive Damage Per Second calculations, and the frequent argument is that Cunning-based dagger Rogues have the best DPS since daggers have a somewhat faster attack animation. My beef with this is that it doesn't take into account the frequency of critical hits and backstabs, something the DPS calculators themselves acknowledge. Dual wielding two full-sized weapons slows things down to be sure. Wielding a full-sized weapon and an off-hand dagger represents a good compromise, especially when you can find the right sword and dagger combination to justify it. Suffice to say I was quite pleased with how this build for Zevran turned out, notwithstanding that it can be pulled off more effectively for your own Grey Warden build than for Zevran himself. Note also that I don't even bother with Pinpoint Strike on account of my high probability for scoring critical hits passively anyway.
Maximum Opportunities for Backstabs: The Coup de Grace and Combat Movement talents, plus having a Rune of Paralysis in his main-hand sword, will also give Zevran plenty of opportunities for backstabs. I also script Zevran to enter Stealth mode whenever he can after his Health drops to 75% or less, which will provide even more opportunities for backstabs.
Momentum: Dual-wielding weapons slows down weapon attack animations by 0.5 for each weapon. Momentum speeds up weapon attack animations by 0.7 for each weapon. This definitely increases the damage output for this Rogue-build. Keep in mind that it drains stamina so be prepared either for the ability to shut down once your Rogue runs out of stamina during a prolonged fight, or have stamina regenerating items in place.
Dual-Weapon Mastery: Again, many Rogue builds rely on daggers so they don't bother with Dual-Weapon Mastery. I still take it (albeit towards the end), since it will reduce the activation cost for the dual-weapon talents.
Feast of the Fallen: Until I acquire this talent, I limit Zevran's script so that he keeps Momentum and Dueling active, while not calling upon any activated talents. Once Feast of the Fallen is in place, then I will include activated talents in his script.
Zevran starts off with the following talents at 13th level
Skill Selection
Starting
15th level
Combat Tactics - Zevran has a mix of sustained talents that I want him to always keep active, and some very useful activated talents that I like him to use but only in certain situations. I thus want him to have as many tactics slots as possible.
16th level
Improved Combat Tactics - Same thing.
18th level
Expert Combat Tactics - Same thing.
20th level
Master Combat Tactics - Rounding out the skill tree.
20th level
Trap-Making - More of a filler than anything else really. And so on. Everything else is filler afterwards.
Script
Self: Any - Dueling
Self: Any - Momentum
Enemy Elite or Higher - Mark of Death *Note* Paracelsi notes you may need to be careful with this, since it can turn into Zevran isolating himself from the rest of the party and exposing himself to a boss by himself. At the same time, it is also my experience that it is only an Elite or higher enemy that is worth using this talent on. If you do script in this fashion, keep a careful eye on where Zevran is going.
Self: Health < 75% - Stealth
Self surrounded by at least 4 Enemies - Whirlwind
Self surrounded by at least 3 Enemies - Dual-Weapon Sweep
Enemy at Short Range - Dirty Fighting
Enemy has High Armor - Deadly Strike
Nearest Visible Enemy - Attack
I only add the three active talents once Zevran has acquired Feast of the Fallen.
Inventory
Main Hand Weapon: Imperial Edge (Grandmaster Frost Rune, Master Paralysis Rune)
Second Hand Weapon: Dead Thaig Shanker (Grandmaster Frost Rune, Master Dweomer Rune)
Helm: Executioner's Helm
Amulet: Apprentice's Amulet
Armor: Varathorn's Armor
Gloves: Pushback Strikers
Rings: Imperium Ring Set
Belt: Shadow Belt
Boots: Cadash Stompers
The Imperial Edge provides bonuses to attack, damage, and melee critical chance. The Dead Thaig Shanker adds a much welcome bonus to Cunning. The Shadow Belt and Pushback Strikers add more bonuses to melee critical chance. The Imperium Ring set increases armor, Cunning, and Strength. The build is stamina-intensive, so the Executioner's Helm and Varathorn's Armor provide welcome bonuses to stamina. The Cadash Stompers also provide bonuses to Dexterity, armor, and melee critical chance.
Note that I can set this up without having to spend any attribute points on Strength for Zevran. All I need to do is loan him some Strength-enhancing items long enough to get the armor pieces on. This works so long as Zevran never switches to a second weapon set (which I don't).
If I were to use a Duelist/Assassin as my Grey Warden, The Veshialle and the Rose's Thorn would be my weapon set up. I would also use a different armor set, ideally one that comes with both fatigue reduction and stamina regeneration. Possible candidates include The Felon's Coat along with other individual pieces of leather armor. Another candidate could be Wade's Superior Dragonscale Armor set. Another candidate is Cailan's Armor set, with the additional perks of a bonus to backstab/critical damage, and a percentage chance of dodging attacks. Nonetheless, the item set up I describe above is perfectly adequate for Zevran as a support character. He performs well enough with it.
Attribute Increases
My first priority is to have his Cunning catch up to Dexterity. Lethality will always increase his damage output based on Cunning. The Exploit Weakness talent from the Assassin specialization will further increase his damage on backstabs, and again based on Cunning. After that I switch back and forth between +2 Dexterity and +1 Cunning or +2 Cunning and +1 Dexterity during each level-up.
You may have noticed that I have Zevran wearing some equipment that has significant Strength prerequisites, and yet I don't add to Strength during his earlier level-ups. The reason is that I temporarily lend Zevran some Strength enchancing items (e.g. Helm of Honnleath) so that he briefly meets the prerequisite and can equip items like Varatorn's Armor or Imperial Edge, and then he returns the items back to the party members who lent to him (e.g. Leliana takes back her Helm of Honnleath). His armor items will stay equipped, since he only needed to meet the Strength prerequisite at the time that he equipped the items. His weapons will stay equipped as long as he never switches to a second weapon set. The precise details of this will be explained at various points in the guide.
However, at some point I want to equip him with a Dragonbone Executioner's Helm (minimum 38 Strength). So at the higher levels, as I approach 20th level or so, I add +4 to Strength along the way to put him just within reach whereby he can add enough Strength-enhancing items that will allow him to reach 38 and equip the Helm.
