Reaver (Origins)

Unlocking
In order to unlock the Reaver specialization, it is necessary to embark on the "Urn of Sacred Ashes" quest, which originates from the city of Redcliffe. Once The Warden has navigated his way through the caves past the ruined temple in the city of Haven, he or she will come to a large, mostly empty chamber. In this chamber will be a man named Kolgrim. Do NOT attack him, and instead listen to his proposed deal. He will give The Warden a phial containing blood from the reborn "Andraste," and tell him or her to place a drop of the blood in the urn of sacred ashes when he or she reaches it. Agree to this. Once The Warden has navigated The Gauntlet and reached the Urn of Sacred Ashes, choose the option to take a pouch full of the ashes FIRST, and then choose the option to place a drop of the blood in the urn. WARNING: Two majorly bad things will happen immediately after this. 1) If The Warden has Alistaire or Leliana in the party, they will HATE The Warden for this. The Warden will have one opportunity to intimidate Leliana and Alistaire into staying with him or her, otherwise they will both leave. If neither is in The Warden's party, he or she will have to deal with it upon returning to camp. 2) The Guardian, a spirit who The Warden met at the beginning of The Gauntlet, will attack. While not necessarily a really challenging fight, it is difficult and can be wearing on health poultices. After the fight has ended and The Warden has gone back outside, he or she will recieve the ancestral memories of the High Dragon (a.k.a Reborn Andraste) and have the Reaver classification unlocked.

Strategy
The Reaver specialization can be of much use for warriors that either want to tank or warriors want to deal as much damage as possible, however the two warriors will have to approach the specialization differently. For tanks Frightening Appearance will increase the effect of the ever so useful threaten and taunt, ensuring no enemies will choose to go after the mage of the party. Devour can be a life saver when your tank is taking too much punishment and a tank can make the most out of Blood Frenzy since it will be under considerably low health for a good chunk of long battles. The disadvantage is that aura of pain is rather useless unless dealing with very specific enemies such as deep stalkers (they deal little to no damage and aura of pain can really kill a pack quickly with little effort). For two handed and double weapon full damage dealers the approach to the specialization will have to be a little different. Since the attention of the enemies will be on the tank what this warrior should do is an Aura of Pain and Blood Frenzy combo; meaning that the player can induce a Blood Frenzy with an Aura of Pain while making the most out of the damage AoP induces while keeping full control over it. Devour retains its overall usefulness in case Aura of Pain deals a little too much damage to your warrior or something unexpected comes in.

THIS IS ALL BULLCRAP!!! DO NOT READ!!!!

Notable Reavers

 * Kolgrim

Trivia

 * Considering this specialization is acquired from the memories of a wyvern, it's unclear why demons are mentioned at all.


 * In most rpg games, wyverns are not considered true dragons. This doesn't seem to be the case in Dragon Age: Origins.


 * Becoming a Reaver is the only time dragons are ever referred to as wyverns in the game.

Reference
Dragon Age: Origins - PRIMA Official Strategy Guide