Dragon Age: Inquisition: Complete Guide

A practical guide to Dragon Age: Inquisition (Game of the Year Edition) on PC: how the systems actually work, how to build a strong Inquisitor, what to do in what order, and which choices you can miss.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final GOTY Edition build (Steam release June 2020, achievements added August 2020; no further patches expected). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• Leave the Hinterlands. The first open zone is huge and full of side content. Do Redcliffe/Crossroads essentials, grab Power, then push the main story. Coming back later is easy and the zone does not go anywhere.
• Power unlocks the story, Influence unlocks perks. Nearly every side activity feeds one or both. You never need to 100% a zone to progress.
• Healing is limited. There is no healing spell. Your party shares a stack of healing potions that refill at camps and supply caches. Barrier (mage) and Guard (warrior) are how you actually stay alive.
• Get to Skyhold before worrying about specializations. Specializations unlock only after the main story moves you to Skyhold and you run the war table operation "Specializations for the Inquisitor".
• Use the war table constantly. Operations run in real time while you play. Always keep Cullen, Leliana and Josephine busy.
• Craft your own gear. Crafted weapons and armor from schematics outclass most drops. Keep the best-tier materials for weapons first.
• Bring a mage with Barrier on higher difficulties. Solas, Vivienne or Dorian with Barrier trivializes a lot of early damage.
• Save before every big story decision. Several choices lock out companions, advisors or whole missions.
• Trespasser is the true ending. Finish the main game first; Trespasser is set after it and wraps up the story.

What Is in the Game of the Year Edition

Content | What it adds

Base game | Full campaign, nine companions, three advisors

Jaws of Hakkon | Frostback Basin zone and a dragon-hunt story (released March 2015 on PC)

The Descent | Deep Roads dungeon crawl with the Legion of the Dead (August 2015)

Trespasser | Epilogue story set after the main game (September 2015)

Spoils of the Avvar / Spoils of the Qunari | Mounts, armor sets and Skyhold decorations

Multiplayer | Co-op mission mode separate from the campaign

On PC: the Steam copy launches through the EA app, so you need an EA account. If you want your Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II decisions carried over, set up your world state in the Dragon Age Keep website before starting a new game; otherwise the game uses a default history.

Core Systems

Power, Influence and the War Table

• Power is spent on the war table to unlock new regions and main story missions. Closing rifts, capturing keeps and setting up camps all give it.
• Influence is Inquisition-level XP. Each Inquisition level grants a perk point, spent in Skyhold on perks tied to your advisors.
• The war table has three advisors: Cullen (military), Leliana (spies/secrets) and Josephine (diplomacy/connections). Each operation shows which advisor does it and how long it takes. The same operation can have different rewards depending on who you assign.
• Timers run in real time, even when the game is closed. Queue long operations before quitting.

Perk priorities that pay off early:

• Deft Hands, Fine Tools — lets you open locked doors and chests. Many areas hide loot behind these.
• Perks that increase healing potion capacity, agent unlocks and crafting/merchant bonuses.
• The knowledge perks that reveal extra lore/weaknesses of enemy types are nice but lower priority.

Party and Combat

You control the Inquisitor plus three companions, and can switch between them at any time.

• Action mode: hold attack, fire abilities from your bar (eight slots on PC).
• Tactical camera: pauses combat and gives an overhead view. Queue orders, then unpause. On Nightmare, use it for every serious fight.
• Guard (warriors) and Barrier (mages) absorb damage before health. The best parties generate one or both constantly.
• Focus fills as you deal damage and powers each specialization's focus ability.
• Friendly fire is only on at Nightmare difficulty. Area spells hurt your own party there.
• Behaviors: set companions to follow your character or hold, and set ability preferences so the AI uses what you want.

Classes and Specializations

Class | Weapons | Specializations

Warrior | Sword & shield, two-handed | Champion, Reaver, Templar

Rogue | Daggers, bow | Artificer, Assassin, Tempest

Mage | Staff | Knight Enchanter, Necromancer, Rift Mage

How to unlock: reach Skyhold, run the war table operation "Specializations for the Inquisitor", then talk to the trainers in Skyhold. Each trainer gives a "Way of the ..." quest that asks you to gather specific items (for example, the Rift Mage quest wants 20 Ring Velvet, 3 Venatori Tomes from the Exalted Plains and the Writings on Rift Magic from Solas or a Val Royeaux book merchant; the Reaver quest wants 20 Rashvine and 3 Infusion Primers from Crestwood). You pick one specialization for the Inquisitor. Companions come with theirs.

Trainers in Skyhold (from the Fextralife wiki): Breaker Thram (Reaver, upper battlements), Helaine (Knight Enchanter, near the front gate), Viuus Anaxas (Necromancer, near the front gate), Three-Eyes (Artificer, lower courtyard), Kihm (Tempest, lower courtyard). The other trainers are in the same areas.

Build Archetypes

These are the classic, well-proven Inquisitor builds. All abilities named here are from the base game ability trees.

Knight Enchanter (Mage) — the famous "overpowered" build

• Core: Spirit Blade (melee magic attack), Fade Cloak (brief invulnerability), Barrier, and the passive Fade Shield, which turns a share of the damage from every successful attack you make into barrier (Spirit Blade is simply your best way to deal that damage).
• Supporting passives: Combat Clarity, Veiled Riposte, Knight-Protector.
• Focus: Resurgence (party heal/revive).
• Why it works: you fight in melee while generating a constant barrier. On any difficulty it is the most forgiving solo-carry option.
• Gear priority: cooldown reduction, guard/barrier on hit, and a strong staff for Spirit Blade damage.

Reaver (Warrior) — damage that grows as you bleed

• Core: Dragon-Rage and Devour (both scale with how wounded you are; Devour heals), Ring of Pain.
• Passives: Blood Frenzy (more damage per 10% missing health), Fervor, Scenting Blood, Terrifying Fury.
• Focus: Rampage.
• Playstyle: two-handed weapon, stay at mid-low health on purpose, heal with Devour. High risk, high reward.

Artificer (Rogue, bow or daggers) — cooldown engine

• Key passive: Opportunity Knocks — critical hits by allies reduce your cooldowns. Combined with And Take Them Down (party crit chance) and high critical chance on gear, your abilities are almost always up.
• Actives: Spike Trap, Elemental Mines, Fallback Plan.
• Focus: Hail of Arrows (duplicates your archery abilities while active).
• Also useful: Tricks of the Trade (boosts status effects for the whole party).

Rift Mage (Mage) — crowd control and burst

• Actives: Veilstrike, Stonefist, Pull of the Abyss.
• Focus: Firestorm.
• Passives: the "Veil" line (Restorative, Encircling, Smothering, Twisting Veil) all reward hitting weakened enemies, so pair with anything that weakens.

Tank party members

Put a sword-and-shield warrior (Cassandra, Blackwall or Iron Bull depending on setup) in front, with a Barrier mage behind. Guard plus Barrier makes almost every fight manageable, even on Nightmare.

Suggested Progression Order

This is the main story spine with the order that works best for most players. Quest names are the official ones.

• The Wrath of Heaven (prologue) — Haven, the Breach.
• The Threat Remains — Hinterlands, Val Royeaux.
• Choose mages or templars: In Hushed Whispers (mages, Redcliffe) or Champions of the Just (templars, Therinfal Redoubt). You can only do one. This changes which faction joins you and several later scenes.
• In Your Heart Shall Burn — the Haven assault. Point of no return for Haven; loot it first.
• Arrive at Skyhold. Unlock specializations, crafting in the Undercroft, and your throne for judgments.
• Here Lies the Abyss (Western Approach, Adamant Fortress) and Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts (Orlesian ball at Halamshiral) — either order.
• What Pride Had Wrought (Arbor Wilds).
• Doom Upon All the World — final mission. You can keep exploring afterwards.
• DLC: Jaws of Hakkon and The Descent can be done any time after Skyhold; they are tougher than early zones. Trespasser after the finale.

Regions and when to visit

Region | Rough stage | Notes

Hinterlands | Early | Horse from Master Dennet, first high dragon lives here (a tough optional fight)

Storm Coast, Fallow Mire | Early-mid | Iron Bull recruitment starts on the Storm Coast

Forbidden Oasis, Western Approach | Mid | Western Approach ties into Here Lies the Abyss

Crestwood | Mid | Grey Warden storyline

Exalted Plains, Emerald Graves | Mid | Large, dense with side content

Emprise du Lion, Hissing Wastes | Late | Higher-level enemies

Frostback Basin (DLC) | Mid-late | Jaws of Hakkon

Crafting and Gear

• Schematics define the item; materials in each slot change stats. Metals and cloth/leather slots add different stats. Tier matters more than item level text.
• Masterwork slots can add on-hit effects (guard, barrier, healing) — fantastic for Reaver, Knight Enchanter and tanks.
• Runes become craftable once you recruit Dagna through a war table operation and set up arcane research at Skyhold.
• Upgrades: hilts, grips, and armor upgrades stack onto crafted gear. Re-slot them when you upgrade.
• Sell junk: the "valuables" category is pure gold, sell it any time.

Missables and Big Choices

• Mages vs templars — you get one recruitment mission only.
• Here Lies the Abyss ends with a choice of who stays behind in the Fade; it is permanent and depends on your world state.
• Whether to exile or keep the Grey Wardens at the end of Here Lies the Abyss.
• Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts has several outcomes for the Orlesian throne; gathering evidence and court approval during the ball opens more options.
• The Well of Sorrows in What Pride Had Wrought — who drinks from it has consequences carried into Trespasser.
• Companion departures: some decisions, and low approval, can make companions leave permanently. Watch approval messages after big decisions.
• Haven loot — anything not grabbed before In Your Heart Shall Burn is gone.
• Romance windows close as the story progresses; talk to companions after each major quest.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Spending 15+ hours in the Hinterlands and burning out. Zones scale in difficulty, not with you, so over-levelling early just makes later content trivial.
• Ignoring the war table — idle advisors are lost rewards.
• Selling crafting materials — you will want high-tier ones later.
• Skipping Barrier/Guard. Without them, even Hard difficulty feels brutal.
• Picking a specialization the moment it unlocks without reading it. Respecs are possible through an amulet sold by merchants in Haven and Skyhold, but they cost gold.
• Starting Trespasser before finishing everything else — it's the epilogue.
• Not checking the Dragon Age Keep — if you care about past choices, import them before starting.

Advanced Tips

• Opportunity Knocks + crit chance on an Artificer, or on companions, loops cooldowns much faster than normal cooldown reduction.
• Knight Enchanter + Fade Cloak lets you dodge big dragon attacks entirely.
• Weaken, then Rift Mage — the Veil passives only fire on weakened targets.
• Combos: a "primer" status (frozen, stunned, sleeping, weakened) plus a detonator ability causes big combo damage. Match your party so someone applies and someone detonates.
• High dragons are optional bosses. Bring the right resistance gear (fire, cold or electric) and a lot of potions, and use the tactical camera to pull the party away from breath attacks.
• Mounts are faster, but you have to dismount to loot and fight; they matter most in the huge desert zones.
• Judgments at Skyhold give narrative payoffs and occasionally unique agents — do not skip them.

FAQ

Do I need to play Origins and Dragon Age II first? No. The Keep lets you set their outcomes, and the story explains the basics. Playing them adds a lot of context to cameos, though.

How long is Dragon Age: Inquisition? The main story alone is a long RPG; completionists with all DLC regularly go past 100 hours.

When can I do Jaws of Hakkon and The Descent? After reaching Skyhold. They are balanced for a mid-to-late game party.

Can I keep playing after the final boss? Yes, you return to the world. Trespasser is launched separately and ends the story.

Which specialization is best? Knight Enchanter is the easiest carry. Artificer and Reaver are the strongest non-mage picks. Any spec is viable on Normal.

Why can't I open locked doors? You need the Deft Hands, Fine Tools perk, bought with an Influence perk point from the war table's perk screen.

Does the Steam version require the EA app? Yes. The Steam GOTY copy runs through the EA app with an EA account.

How do I install mods? The community standard is Frosty Mod Manager for Frostbite-engine games. Back up saves first, and remove mods before patching or verifying files.

Sources

• Dragon Age: Inquisition — Wikipedia
• Dragon Age: Inquisition GOTY — Steam store
• Dragon Age: Inquisition news on Steam
• Specializations — Dragon Age Inquisition Wiki (Fextralife)
• Knight Enchanter — Fextralife
• Reaver — Fextralife
• Artificer — Fextralife
• Rift Mage — Fextralife