- For the ability in Dragon Age: Inquisition, see Savvy (Inquisition).
Savvy is one of Isabela's talents from her unique Swashbuckler specialization in Dragon Age II.
Information[]
- Damage: -10% per nearby enemy
- Defense: +10% per nearby enemy
Upgrade[]
 Buccaneer's Savvy |
Upgrade Requires: Level 11 Requires: 2 points in Swashbuckler |
Isabela's focus sharpens, cutting Savvy's damage penalty in half. Damage: +5% per nearby enemy (total: -5%) |
Notes[]
- Enemies do not have to target Isabela for the ability to take effect, they must merely be within 10m of her. Leaving the 10m radius instantly removes the Defense boost and damage penalty and instantly reapplies them when back in range, thus the skill favors ranged attacks like All Hands on Deck (Isabela's only ranged damage attack).
- Unlike Bravery, Savvy does not have an "after the first" requirement, i.e., the ability begins working with a single enemy.
- The defense boost is a flat-rate per enemy, regardless of existing Defense; the damage penalty, however, is multiplicative, meaning the penalty is reduced for each enemy and reduction in damage. For example: 100 damage, 1 enemy = 100 - 10 = 90, 2 enemies = 100 - 10 - 9 = 81, 3 enemies = 100 - 10 - 9 - 8 = 73, and so on. In this way, Isabela doesn't end up dealing 0% damage when facing 10 enemies or more.
- Defense caps at 80%, which in turn only applies to Normal-ranked enemies and below. Elites and Bosses reduce this value's effectiveness by virtue of their rank alone, but the value can still be pushed to the 80% threshold against them. Isabela can hit the initial 80% cap on her own with armor upgrades, Sea Legs, and modest investment in Cunning, without Savvy activated at all, and reach 80% for Elites by pushing Cunning a little further.
- Due to diminishing returns, a four-digit raw Defense score at Level 16, achieved with a re-spec and putting every point into Cunning, barely gets 70% for Bosses, so Savvy's flat rate per enemy is useful for pushing to 80% Defense against Elites and Bosses without such a heavy Cunning investment. Ideally it will only require 1 enemy (i.e., the Elite or Boss itself), as even a 10% loss in damage output greatly diminishes Isabela's combat effectiveness. Given that the 80% cap effectively means that 1 in 5 attacks will hit their mark with full damage no matter what, with Elites and Bosses hitting the hardest among all enemies, the extra Defense may not be worth such a loss in damage.
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