Summary
Theincredibly well-receivedDragon Age: The Veilguardcontinues the tradition of classes being able to specialize in one of a few distinct vocations, each with its unique spins and twists on the skills first established by the base class. InThe Veilguardthis specialization system is more fluid than ever with players able to withdraw and re-establish themselves in any of the three specializations at any given time, making for a compelling and innovative skill system where only one character is needed to explore a single class in any of its potential capacities.
Among the three warrior specializations inThe Veilguard, the Slayer stands as the one most wholly focused on raw, unfettered offense. The slayer sacrifices defensive abilities for speed and power, and while they do have access to shields of course, players will soon find that any shields in a Slayer run ofThe Veilguardare essentially just secondary optionsfor dealing damage, not tools to mitigate the enemies' offense in any way. For players who want enemies to bleed and crumble, the Slayer is for them, and these weapons are the best way to unlock the Slayer’s potential.
1The Winged Glaive
A Great Weapon Focused On Speed
Purchased fromthe Grey Wardenmerchant shop in the Wetlands, this is a sleek, elegant weapon that is excellent in the hands of a Slayer for a myriad of reasons - namely, however, its high speed and versatility.
While many two-handed weapons are seen as the bulky, heavy but powerful equivalents to one-handed weapons for Warriors, the Winged Glaive has special properties that make it more suited to faster combat. The first two modifiers on this glaive increase light attack and final light attack damage respectively, mirroring the Slayer’s emphasis on speed and damage in one package. It also has the ability to rally the party at later upgrades, an equally useful boon for Slayers.
2The Encrusted Whorl
A Gleaming, Elegant Shield
Purchased from the faction merchant in Rivain,the arena-goingLords of Fortune know how to glamorize their weapons. The Encrusted Whorl is an excellent tool in the hands of the Slayer that prioritizes agile attacks. For those unaware, agile attacks are strikes that come from the warrior on the end of jumps, dodges, and sprinting, and are a huge part of how the Slayer builds up damage in battle.
The higher tiers of this shield are even stronger, making all agile attacks critical against high-health enemies or build-up damage as the player sprints. Don’t let the fact that this is a shield fool anybody - this is a vital tool for Slayer offense.
3The Anvil Breaker
One Of The Best Stagger Producers In The Game
Found at the Shadow Dragon merchant at surprisingly low faction strength, this huge weapon is one of the best stagger-producing items players will find across all classes in the game. The Slayer is uniquely suited to using this weapon, though maybe use a different weapon for vanity - a Slayer shouldn’t be using a weapon not encrusted in gold, after all.
Many Slayer abilities provide the Overwhelmed debuff, which this weapon deals extra damage against. The weapon also boosts the damage of charged heavy attacks, which Lord of Fortunes accessories can make faster, and which produce the most stagger of all attacks. Finally, the maul increases the time that enemies are staggered for, which is great considering the amount of stagger produced means players will have to execute many enemies in quick succession.
4Proving Steel
An Iconic Dwarven Sword
One of the many reasons that this game has receivedsuch strong reviewsfrom fans is how it inspects the occasionally underlooked lore of the dwarves, and this unique sword is an excellent means of dishing out damage that emulates one of these stout underground lords.
Like the Encrusted Whorl, this weapon focuses on agile attacks, increasing their damage and applying bleeding if not already applied - another complement to the Slayer moveset. At high levels, this sword can make bleeding as a debuff one of the most powerful debuffs in the game, and should not be overlooked. This is a vital weapon for any Slayer, found in the Lords merchant shop.
5The Raiders Cleaver
An Excellent Bleeding Tool
Found early in the gamein Arlathan Forest,this weapon is another excellent bleeding-focused complement to the Slayer’s skillset, and beyond this, synthesizes critical hits and bleeding damage together in a fantastic way.
Critical hit damage bonuses, modified by items and Warrior skills, are also applied as a bonus to bleeding damage at high upgrade tiers. Considering how early this weapon is found, it can be a great staple for Slayers into the mid or even late-game.
6The Rivaini Thornback
A Powerful Combo Focused Shield
Like other Slayer-oriented shields, the Rivaini Thornback is a shield only in its basic shape, focused far more on offense than defense. Slayers take a high-lethality approach to every encounter, and this shield backs that up with Final attack damage boosts and, of course, an increase in bleeding effectiveness.
This shield differentiates itself from the Encrusted Whorl, another Slayer-focused shield, with an increase in player penetration, which reduces the effectiveness of armor and lets players weaken enemies quicker so their allies can deal huge amounts of combo damage.
