Abilities in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are some of the most powerful tools at your disposal when it comes to making your way through Dragon Age: The Veilguard. But, with both you and your Companions having access to dozens of them — each with their own stats and combinations — it can be a bit overwhelming to try to figure them out.
That’s where this guide comes in, to help walk you through Abilities and Ultimates in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. This guide will help explain lots about Abilities, like how to use them, what Primers and Detonators are, and what Ultimate are. In addition, this guide provides a full list for all of Rook’s Abilities, as well as those of every one of your Companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Abilities & Ultimates Overview
Abilities are the bread and butter of you and your Companions‘ arsenals in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. All Abilities, including Ultimates, are special moves that inflict the most devastating attacks against your enemies, or which give you a tactical advantage.
At any given time, you and each of the two Companions you can have 3 of your unlocked Abilities — which are unlocked via your Skill Trees — equipped at any time. These abilities can then be activated during combat by opening your Abilities Menu, and then activating your abilities (on the bottom) and/or your Companions’ abilities (to the left and right sides). At any one time, you can activate one Ability for each character.
You can also activate your Ultimate Ability whenever it is ready without entering the Ability Screen by following the prompt at the bottom of the Screen. These Ultimates are extremely powerful moves that absolutely devastate enemies with high damage and good control.
All Abilities either have a Cooldown, or a Cost associated with them. After using an Ability with a Cooldown, you will need to wait until the Cooldown time elapses before being able to cast the Ability again. Companion Abilities always have a Cooldown.
On the other hand, Abilities with a Cost can be used at any time, so long as you have enough of the appropriate Class resource. Each Class has their own resource, which builds as you do maneuvers related to your Class, and which can be improved by various Skills on the Class’s tree. The Class resources are as follows:
Warriors use Rage, which builds as you hit enemies and are hit by them.
Rogues use Momentum, which builds as you dodge, parry, and attack.
Lastly, it is worth noting that all Abilities can be upgraded in the Skill Tree by selecting Ability Upgrades. Rather than enhancing singular abilities, Ability Upgrades improve any Abilities with the associated “Type” Tag. Since every ability has 2 Type Tags, each has quite a lot of potential for improvement, even after it is acquired. The tags are as follows:
Control
Area
Strike
Projectile
Duration
Smash (only for Warrior Abilities)
Blast (only for Mage Abilities)
Tool (only for Rogue Abilities)
Primer & Detonator Abilities
Certain Abilities — called “Primers” — can inflict Status Effects onto your enemies, while others — called “Detonators” can “Detonate” those Status Effects for massive AoE damage.
You can see Primers at a glance when you open your Ability Wheel, as they will be outlined with green and have a label demonstrating a “Combo Opportunity.” Once you have selected the Primer, or if you are highlighting any enemy that already has a Status Effect that can be Detonated, then the Detonator will be similarly highlighted, with the note that it “Combos With [Status Effect].”
Once you activate a Detonator Ability on an enemy with the correct Status Effect, they will get hit with the attack and then explode, dealing AoE Damage and Stagger to themselves and any enemies nearby.
Each Class and Character specializes in Abilities that Prime and Detonate different Status Effects (though always Sundered, Weakened, and Overwhelmed), making for potent combos between your Rook and your Companions.
Each Class has two Abilities that apply one Status Effect, another Ability that applies another Status Effect, and two Abilities that Detonate another Status Effect:
Applies Sundered with Explosive Daggers and Toxic Dash
Applies Weakened with Reeling Bolt
Detonates Overwhelm with Pilfer, Explosive Trap, and Strom’s Path
The above abilities can be combined with your companions, who each have one Ability that can apply a Status Effect, and another Ability which can detonate a different Status Effect:
The Warrior Class has 13 Abilities available in total, with 3 of those belonging to Specializations (and therefor being mutually exclusive with the others). The Warrior uses Rage — which builds by landing hits on enemies or getting hit yourself (even if you block) — as a Cost for certain abilities.
Ability Name
Type
Damage
Cost / Cooldown
Primer / Detonator
Driving Kick
Smash, Control
Physical
Detonates Weakened
Titan Stomp
Area, Control
Physical
60 Seconds
Applies Overwhelm
Groundbreaker
Strike, Control
Fire
Detonates Weakened
Bloody Advance
Projectile, Duration
Necrotic
Applies Sundered
Spectral Bulwark
Smash, Duration
Necrotic
60 Seconds
–
Deadly Ground
Area, Duration
Necrotic
–
Whirlwind
Area, Smash
Physical
–
Fury of the Forge
Strike, Projectile
Fire
–
Cleaving Strike
Area, Strike
Physical
–
Grappling Spear
Projectile, Control
Fire
60 Seconds
Applies Overwhelm
Blight’s Bane*
Area, Projectile
Fire
Detonates Weakened
Reaper*
Strike, Duration
Necrotic
Detonates Weakened
Heroic Leap*
Strike, Smash
Physical
Detonates Weakened
* = Available only within Specialization
Warrior Ultimates
In addition to regular Abilities, the Warrior also has access to 4 Ultimate Abilities. One of these Ultimates is available in the Warrior Core, as soon as you make the character, but the other 3 are in each of your Specializations.
The Rogue Class has 13 Abilities available in total, with 3 of those belonging to Specializations (and therefor being mutually exclusive with the others). The Rogue uses Momentum — which builds by dodging, parrying, and landing hits on enemies — as a Cost for certain abilities.
Ability Name
Type
Damage
Cost / Cooldown
Primer / Detonator
Static Strikes
Strike, Duration
Electricity
Applies Weakened
Pilfer
Control, Tool
Physical
60 Seconds
Detonates Overwhelmed
Lightning Flask
Duration, Control
Electricity
–
Explosive Trap
Area, Tool
Physical
20 Seconds
Detonates Overwhelmed
Rain of Decay
Area, Control
Necrotic
–
Reeling Bolt
Projectile, Tool
Electricity
60 Seconds
Applies Weakened
Lightning Quiver
Projectile, Control
Electricity
–
Hurricane of Blades
Area, Strike
Necrotic
–
Explosive Daggers
Projectile, Duration
Physical
Applies Sundered
Toxic Dash
Strike, Projectile
Necrotic
Applies Sundered
A Thousand Cuts*
Strike, Control
Necrotic
–
Fortune’s Turret*
Duration, Tool
Physical
60 Seconds
–
Storm’s Path*
Area, Projectile
Electricity
Detonates Overwhelmed
* = Available only within Specialization
Rogue Ultimates
In addition to regular Abilities, the Rogue also has access to 4 Ultimate Abilities. One of these Ultimates is available in the Rogue Core, as soon as you make the character, but the other 3 are in each of your Specializations.
The Mage Class has 13 Abilities available in total, with 3 of those belonging to Specializations (and therefor being mutually exclusive with the others). The Mage uses Mana — which regenerates naturally over time — as a Cost for certain abilities.
Ability Name
Type
Damage
Cost / Cooldown
Primer / Detonator
Arcane Shot
Projectile, Blast
Fire
–
Frost Nova
Area, Control
Cold
60 Seconds
–
Ice Blast
Control, Blast
Cold
Applies Weakened
Dark Squall
Projectile, Control
Cold
60 Seconds
Detonates Sundered
Chain Lightning
Strike, Projectile
Electricity
Applies Overwhelm
Tempest
Strike, Duration
Electricity
–
Storm Surge
Area, Strike
Electricity
Applies Overwhelm
Wall of Fire
Duration, Control
Fire
60 Seconds
–
Meteor
Area, Blast
Fire
Detonates Sundered
Corrupted Ground
Area, Duration
Necrotic
Applies Weakened
Spirit Bomb*
Duration, Blast
Necrotic
Detonates Sundered
Entropic Sphere*
Area, Projecile
Cold
Detonates Sundered
Void Blade*
Strike, Blast
Electricity
Detonates Sundered
* = Available only within Specialization
Mage Ultimates
In addition to regular Abilities, the Mage also has access to 4 Ultimate Abilities. One of these Ultimates is available in the Mage Core, as soon as you make the character, but the other 3 are in each of your Specializations.
You aren’t the only one with Abilities, of course. Each of your Companions has a selection of 5 Abilities as well, of which they can equip 3 at any given time. Some of these Abilities are Primers or Detonators, providing combo opportunities with Rook and their other Companion.
In addition to Abilities that come from Rook and their Companions’ Skill Trees, some Abilities also come from gear. Weapons, Armor, and Runes can all have active Abilities and Passives that can add additional functionality or improve your moveset, in addition to dealing Status Effects that can combo with your Detonators. You can see more about the kinds of effects that you can gain from gear on our Gear Guide, when it is ready.
With that, you know everything you need to know about Abilities in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. With your Abilities in check, you are sure to make a lethal team of fighters, ready to bring the fight to your enemies with powerful special moves that synergize with each other. But if you are looking to get that extra edge up and come prepared with a powerful loadout that will help you even more, check out our Builds page.
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