Dorian Pavus brings a powerful combination of area-of-effect damage, crowd control, and damage-over-time capabilities to any party in Dragon Age Inquisition. As a Necromancer, his unique skill set excels at panicking whole groups of enemies while maintaining constant pressure on the battlefield. Optimizing his abilities and gear ensures he delivers massive damage without draining party resources or falling fragile to incoming enemy attacks.
Essential Necromancer Skills and Passive Synergies
The core of Dorian's playstyle revolves around his specialized Necromancer skill tree. Unlocking Walking Bomb and upgrading it with Virulent creates massive damage explosions that spread across enemy ranks when targets die. Pair this with Horror and the Despair upgrade to panic whole groups of foes while reducing their armor. Passives in this tree further enhance his capabilities by boosting overall damage output against panicked targets.
Integrating the Inferno Tree for Continuous Fire Damage
Combining Necromancer spells with abilities from the Inferno tree maximizes Dorian's status effect potential. Flash Point is a vital passive that removes the cooldown on his next spell whenever he lands a critical hit. Setting up Wall of Fire creates sustained damage over time that frequently triggers the panic status. Additionally, Fire Mine with the Flaming Array upgrade delivers huge burst damage when enemies cross his path.
Supporting Capabilities from Spirit and Utility Spells
To ensure Dorian stays alive and maintains excellent party utility, investing key skill points in the Spirit tree is necessary. Allocating points into Barrier gives your frontline fighters instant defensive shields at the start of encounters. Dispel provides immediate utility by clearing harmful status effects from allies or destroying enemy barrier shields. Utilizing Fade Step with the Energizing Step upgrade gives Dorian a fast movement option that instantly recharges his mana pool.
Best Equipment and Weapon Crafting for Dorian
Equipping Dorian with high critical chance gear unlocks the full potential of his passive abilities like Flash Point. Craft a high-tier staff prioritizing critical chance, attack percentage, and bonus magic stats. Armor crafting should emphasize lightweight armors slotted with materials that increase critical rate and offense stats. Adding Fade-Touched materials that grant guard on hit or trigger Hidden Blades further boosts his survival and damage output in heavy skirmishes.
