The Dragon Age franchise is filled with a wide variety of classic fantasy characters, from mages, to rogues, and warriors. Some are companions while others serve as villains or non-inner-circle allies. Among the classes, warriors typically two-hand their weapons or carry a sword & shield as their trademark look. Warriors have specializations too – like champions, reavers, and templars.

Outside of the players’ character, there are plenty of warriors in Dragon Age. While they may share the same class, they actually have a lot of differences that can make some stronger than others.

The strength of a warrior is not just in how hard they can hit a target. It is also in their endurance, leadership skills, and intellect. Some warriors even have magical abilities. We’ve updated this list to add even more of the strongest warriors.

15 Carver Hawke

The little brother of Hawke and twin of Bethany, Carver is a warrior with some insecurities from being in the shadow of his older sibling. He also has two chances to die in Dragon Age 2. Once is while fleeing the Blight and the other is in the Deep Roads. This does not bode well in terms of the measure of his strength.

If he does survive though, he is trained to either be a Grey Warden or templar. These offer him a good set of skills, however he is no match for many other warriors in the series.

14 Oghren

Oghren is a berserker and later becomes a Grey Warden in Dragon Age: Awakening. He has a lot of flaws but his raw strength and passion for combat are not one of them. In fact, Oghren was one of the best warriors of his generation in Orzammar before he became a drunken laughingstock.

While he is strong and brave, his weakness is certainly in intelligence and he greatly lacks leadership skills.

13 Justice

Justice is a spirit, and before he was part of Anders, he was a warrior in Awakening. Spirits do not really have a definite shape, but Justice decided to be a warrior in the Fade and remained a warrior when he took over the body of Kristoff.

How unique and unconventional Justice is as a warrior gives him an edge in combat, and he acted as a leader to others in the Fade. Despite his interesting background though, there is little else that makes him one of the stronger warriors of the franchise.

12 Aveline Vallen

Aveline is a protector above all else. In terms of personality, she is quite stable and logically minded. In her wisdom and strength, she is a refugee that rose to Captain of the Guard in Kirkwall.

However, Aveline is just a guard captain. She doesn’t have unusual circumstances of birth or Tevinter rituals to give her an extra edge in combat.

11 Blackwall

Blackwall (voiced by Alastair Parker) is a strange character as he lies about his identity throughout most of Inquisition. He is not a Grey Warden, but a wanted man. However, his combat abilities led the entire Inquisition to believe he was a Grey Warden.

His greatest fear is himself, which is pretty deep. This does give him more strength points because he is not afraid to sacrifice himself.

10 Alistair

Contrary to this adorkable personality that fans love, Alistair has a lot going on combat-wise. He was trained by templars, has dragon-blood in his veins, and is a Grey Warden. This gives him a ton of resistances from magic to darkspawn taint.

Alistair is more of a lover than a fighter (usually). If he dedicated himself to combat, he would be quite an opponent.

9 Michel De Chevin

For casual fans who just play the games, Michel doesn’t seem that impressive. For those that read the books though, De Chevin is a big deal. He beat Gaspard in combat, making him known as the best warrior in all Oralis.

The champion of the empress is no title to scoff at. The little that does hold him back is purely psychological.

8 The Iron Bull

As warriors, qunari are on a whole other level than humans. Their sheer size is enough to make them terrifying in combat, and Bull is stronger than an average qunari. He is not a soldier, but a spy who also takes the role of mercenary leader. This gives him skills both in brute strength as well as in intelligence and leadership.

However, Bull is still not perfect. He fears magic and does not really know how to handle situations when it comes to spirits, the Fade, and mages.

7 Sten

Sten is another qunari companion, but is stronger than The Iron Bull. He is a man who fears nothing and does not ever waver in his identity or duty. These skills are what make him the new Arishok in the Dragon Age comics. To be Arishok is to lead the entire qunari military, and that is a major sign of strength, intellect, and leadership skill.

With hints the qunari’s role during the events of Dragon Age 4, many fans are wondering if they may meet Sten again. There are also those that wonder if Sten will be the Arishok or not, as the comics do not necessarily reflect the game canon.

6 Meredith Stannard

Meredith is the Knight-Commander of the Kirkwall Templar Order. Her face is the center of mage nightmares, as she is brutal and oppressive to them in every way.

Being a Knight-Commander means being the best of the best of the Templar Order. Meredith is incredibly resistant to magic and is experienced in combating all forms of fire, ice, and lightning.

5 Shale

Shale is a character from Origins that was only available through DLC. The price is quite worth it for such a unique warrior companion. She is a warrior made of stone and elemental crystals.

Her brute strength does come with a severe cost, though. Her free will can be tampered with. After all, golems were made as tools by the dwarves.

4 Branka

Branka is often remembered as Oghren’s ex-wife and a smith who is so talented that she became a living Paragon. She is a warrior, but her true strength is in her brains rather than her brawn.

She survived the Deep Roads and found a way to bring golems back to Orzammar. However, she does so at the cost of her fellows’ lives. She also can be defeated by the player if they decide to stop her plan.

3 Cassandra Pentaghast

Cassandra was introduced in Dragon Age 2 but did not truly shine until Inquisition as a companion. As a companion, she got really popular due to both her inner & outer strengths and as a romance option. She carries many titles such as Seeker, Right Hand of the Divine, and Hero of Orlais.

She made herself known as one of the greatest warriors of Thedas at a young age. All of those details were revealed in theDragon Age movie Dawn of the Seeker.

2 Loghain Mac Tir

For good reason, Loghain is one of the most controversial companions of the series. He is one of the big baddies of Origins but is a complex character, especially in the books.

Despite his old age, he is an amazing warrior. His greatest strength lies in strategy. Without him, Ferelden would still be in the hands of Orlais. If not executed, he even becomes a Grey Warden on top of all his training.

1 Fenris

Fenris has no fancy titles like Cassandra, Branka, Lohgain, and Meredith. However, he is the most powerful warrior in Dragon Age. Unlike everyone else, he did not become strong by choice. He was a slave who was mercilessly experimented on with lyrium until he became the perfect body-guard for his master.

His abilities make him like a ghost in combat, able to phase through anything like armor and flesh. The first time he is seen in Dragon Age 2, he literally rips a man’s heart out of his chest. It goes to show that the best of the best are usually undiscovered.

NEXT: Dragon Age: Unanswered Questions We Still Have About The Inquisition