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Sera is a Rogue companion inDragon Age: Inquisition, and you can recruit her to your cause fairly early on in the game. As with every companion in Inquisition, Sera has her own unique skill tree, and it helps to separate her from the otherRogues, like Coleand Varric.
Sera’s unique skill tree is the Tempest tree, and can provide her with a wide variety of buffs that can slot into more or lessany Rogue build you can imagine. For this build in particular, we’ll be combining it with Archery and Sabotage trees to great effect, making for a very versatile ranged build.
Any skill in the tree that we need for progression but isn’t important for the build, we’ll skip over mentioning. It will still be included in the skill point cost.
Best Skill Choices For A Ranged Tempest Build
TheTempest abilities combine very well with anything, and give Sera a wide variety of options that aren’t available to any other characters. In this case, the elixirs available in this tree are going todramatically enhance the damagethat Sera can put out.
Flask Of Fire (Active)
Unquenchable Flames
This keeps skills from casting any stamina, and knocks enemies that attack Sera backward. WithUnquenchable Flames, Sera’s skills also have no cooldown, ensuring that you can use as many skills as you want in the five-second period that it’s active.
Fury Of The Storm
N/A
When Sera’s stamina is below 50%, she deals 10% extra damage. This also increases Sera’s Constitution by +3. (Constitution increases health and melee defense.)
Thousand Cuts (Active)
Thishits an enemy an increasing amount of times based on how much Focus is used for this attack, either 12/25/38 hits.
Killer’s Alchemy
Sera gains a 15% damage buff for 10 seconds after using an elixir or a potion, and this effect can stack. Sera also gains +3 Constitution.
Flask Of Lightning (Active)
Thunderstruck
When combined with the Thunderstruck upgrade, this essentiallystops time for everybody but Sera. Sera can still attack while this is active, and enemies will take extra electricity damage from her.
There are skills in this tree that arestaples of this build: Flask Of Lightning, Flask Of Fire, and Killer’s Alchemy. Without these skills, this build falls off dramatically; with them, this build is capable of great things.
The Best Skills In The Archery Tree
Sera excels with a bow, and the Archery tree is going to push that strength even further. If the Tempest skills provide the platform for the damage in this build, the Archery skills take the stage.
First Blood
Deal 15% extra damage to enemies that have 80% health or more. Sera also gains +3 Dexterity. (Dexterity increases attack and critical damage bonus.)
Death From Above
Gain a maximum of 25% extra damage to enemies that are below Sera. Sera also gains +3 Cunning. (Cunning increases critical hit chance and ranged defense.)
Long Shot (Active)
Archer’s Lance
Deal damage to enemies, increasing the further you are from them. With the Archer’s Lance upgrade, this shot pierces through targets.
Leaping Shot (Active)
Rolling Draw
Leaping attack enables Sera to dive away from enemies while firing at them. With the Rolling Draw upgrade, if this attack hits then your next attack will knock down Sera’s target.
Explosive Shot (Active)
Chain Reaction
This fires an explosive arrow, and with the Chain Reaction upgrade, this explosion deals extra damage the more enemies are inside the radius.
Strafing Shots
This gives Sera better speed and accuracy while moving, and increases her Dexterity by +3.
Pincushion
This enables your attacks to deal 5% more damage for each shot on the same target. It also increases Sera’s Dexterity by +3.
Deals extraordinary damage to targets who are at full health.
These are the skills Sera will be able to use with reckless abandon when certain elixirs are active. The ability to use things likeLong Shot and Explosive Shot multiple times in a row with Flask Of Fire activeis going to exponentially increase her damage output.
The Best Skills In The Sabotage Tree
The Sabotage tree is going to largely be complimentary in damage to the Archery tree, but it’s not useless, by any means. We only have one active skill slot left without removing one of the above abilities;you could get rid of Leaping Shot and lose out on some escapability, and take a couple of active skills from here, instead.
We’ll include two active skills from the Sabotage tree that could be of benefit, and feel free to slot them in as desired.
Poisoned Weapons (Active)
Infected Wounds
This enables Sera’s attacks to poison enemies, dealing damage over time. With the Infected Wounds upgrade, she’ll also deal 25% extra damage with this ability active, on top of the damage over time aspect.
Fighting Dirty
Increase the duration of poison by 25%. Sera also gains +3 Dexterity.
Explosive Toxin
Enemies that die while poisoned explode in a poison mist, dealing damage over time to enemies in the radius. Sera gains +3 Dexterity.
Toxic Cloud (Active)
Contact Poison
A throwable poison cloud that poisons every enemy in the vicinity, dealing damage over time.
Looked Like It Hurt
When Sera critically hits, she regains 10 stamina. This also grants Sera +3 Cunning.
These abilities are going toessentially add some extra passive damage on top of the active damage that Sera can deal. The damage bonus of Infected Wounds, the damage over time of poison, and the extra damage from her elixirs is going to combine for a lot of damage-enhancement.
The Completed Sera Ranged Tempest Build
All told,this build costs 27 skills points, which is right around the maximum earnable in the game, without exploits. But, the build is very much worth it; there aremultiple damage-buffing skillsthat stack,a time-stopping skill, and a combination ofsingle-target and multi-target skillsthat make Sera usable in just about any scenario in the game.
Here are the completed Tactics slot; keeping mind there are nine skills listed here, and you’re able to slot in Toxic Cloud for a different Archery ability as desired:
Alternative Sera Builds
you may also go the other way with Sera, opting toput daggers in her hands instead of a bow. HerTempest abilities are going to function just as well either way, and she’ll be able to make use of more of them.
Flask Of Frost, for instance,gives Sera more armor and allows her to taunt enemies, with theBitter Chillupgrade. This can fit her into a tank-adjacent role; she won’t always be able to full-tank for your party, but combine this with the Double Daggers tree, andshe can be a truly terrifying melee force, as well.
