Builds – Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age: The Veilguard improves upon the previous character build system massively, giving the player a plenty of new options to tinker with to achieve a unique result. Whether it’s the plain old Darkspawn, or the very ancient and now reawakened Old Gods of Tevinter, the game offers multiple creative options for approaching any threat!

Creating your original Character Build can seem a bit daunting at first (or, perhaps even overwhelming), but this guide aims to give you some insights into the entire process. We will walk you through choosing your class to match your playstyle, picking the right Skills and Specializations, selecting the best Faction and Companions, and even exploring the best Equipment options!

This guide is currently a work in progress; it will be actively updated over time.

Choosing Your Character’s Class & Specialization

The game offers three primary archetypes you will see in most RPGs: Warrior, Mage, and Rogue. Each of these can be further enhanced via picking one of three unique Specializations that come with each Class, offering even more extensive options for any combat scenario.

Note that Dragon Age: The Veilguard only allows one Specialization to be active at a time. Luckily, the game also lets players respec their points at any time and indefinitely, so there is plenty of room for experimentation. (You can read more about these basics in our dedicated Skill Trees Guide.)

Classes Playstyle Overview

The core classes should cover pretty much any playstyle; let’s take a look at each:

• Warrior: Durable and unrelenting, able to charge through the enemy lines and provide defense for their allies while wielding a one-handed weapon and shield, or aggressively rip apart foes while wielding two-handed weapons. Warriors use Rage for their abilities, regenerating it whenever they inflict damage, receive damage, or slay enemies.
• Mage: Wise and knowledgeable, using mana to conjure elemental powers and rip through any foe with devastating spells. Capable of learning secret arts and mastering the Fade — the very energies of the universe. Mages use Mana for their abilities and regenerate it passively over time.
• Rogue: Agile hybrid melee/ranged combatant, capable of swiftly dashing through the battlefield, landing quick and deadly blows using Momentum or hiding in the shadows and shooting piercing arrows at a foe’s vital points. Rogues use Momentum for their abilities and regenerate it by dodging and parrying enemy attacks.

Class Weapon Sets

The classes can swap between two separate weapon sets, offering multiple combos that can be used at any time in addition to the primary abilities.

• Mage swaps between a Staff and Dagger & Orb.
• Warrior swaps between a One-Handed Weapon & Shield and a Two-Handed Weapon.
• Rogues only have Dual Weapons but can always use the Bow without needing to swap to it.

Class Specializations

Once you reach level 20, you will be able to pick a Specialization. Each further expands upon the core mechanics of the class, offering unique playstyles that either complement the core gameplay or overhaul it entirely, allowing you to experiment with multiple combos and effects.

Sadly, while some of the iconic specializations of the Dragon Age series — such as Champion, Duelist, and Spellblade — are present in the game, other fan favorites — such as the Blood Mage, Templar, and Knight-Enchanter — are not available.

Spending Your Points On the Right Skills

Once you pick the right Class and Specialization to suit your personal playstyle, the next step is to plan how to allocate your Skill Points.

Selecting Active Abilities

Unlike the previous entries from the series where you could have several abilities selected at once, Dragon Age: The Veilguard only allows players to have 3 active abilities. However, these may be swapped in between combat, allowing you to change your loadout if you need to adapt to a specific situation.

Once you pick your abilities, the next step is to consider how passive effects unlocked from the Skill Tree can enhance them, increase your character’s stats, or offer utility effects. Both the Skill Tree and Equipment can even modify how certain abilities behave, like offering you extra charges or movesets.

Each class has an impressive number of effects they can spend Skill Points on — up to 154 Skills per class. You will still have to pick and choose, however, since a max Level Rook will only have 50 Skill Points to spare from their level, plus what they acquire from Statue Puzzles. Of course, that’s still a lot of points to invest into enhancing your stats and your 3 most used abilities, but you’ll need to be smart about it.

To summarize, start with the abilities that seem the most appealing to you, and then spend your skill points on the effects that can synergize and stack to improve them. For example, make note of the Primers & Detonators mechanic. We discuss it in more detail in our Abilities Guide.

Upgrading Abilities

In addition, note the two Tags on each of your 3 Abilities. These are important when picking the correct upgrades for them in the Skill Tree.

Let’s take the Ice Blast Mage Ability as an example. For it, you will want to get all the Minor and Major Passive effects from the Skill Tree that enhance Cold and Elemental Damage. You will also want to take the Skills associated with the Tag of the ability that offer best improvements, with all having one or both of the tags in question. In this case, Ice Blast has the Control & Blast tags, meaning that you will also want to get all the Skills that synergize with your build or directly improve the ability that feature those two.

Picking the Best Faction for Your Build

Dragon Age: The Veilguard features a new mechanic in the series: Factions. Players will select one of the factions as part of their background during the character creation process — since it determines crucial bits of your story, you can’t change this initial pick. However, the game features a Reputation System, so you will have to interact with all of them in one capacity or another.

Choosing a faction will increase your reputation gain with the specific faction during the playthrough and provide specific bonuses!

The following factions will be available to choose from, along with their offered benefits:

• Antivan Crows – Extra Potion Slot & Increased Damage vs The Antaam
• Grey Wardens – Increased Base Health and Defense & Increased Damage vs Darkspawn
• Lords of Fortune – Perform Takedowns with Less Effort & Increased Damage vs Mercenaries
• The Mourn Watch – Additional Affliction Slots on Enemy Targets & Increased Damage vs Undead & Demons
• Shadow Dragons – Class Specific Resource Regenerates Faster & Increased Damage vs Venatori
• Veil Jumpers – Increased Critical and Weakpoint Damage & Increased Damage vs Fade-Touched

Each faction comes with its own lore and background story for Rook, and each is a direct representative of some of the specializations available in the game. As an example, the Slayer specialization is themed after the Lords of Fortune faction, while the Spellblade specialization is themed after the Antivan Crows. However, you do not need to be a member of that faction to pick the Specialization.

You will want to select the faction that offers the best bonuses for your intended playstyle!

Choosing the Best Companions

Throughout your journey in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you will encounter fellow adventurers who will join you on your path to glory! Unlike in the previous installments where you could have up to 3 companions at a time, Dragon Age: The Veilguard will only feature two active companions at a time, which may be cycled through.

While some Companions may seem to bring the perfect ambient for your party, not all of them fit into every possible specialization. This means you have to be careful about selecting Companions that synergize the best with your build and make use of the Primers & Detonators mechanic.

Here are the Companions:

• Bellara Lutare
  • Applies Weakened with Enfeebling Shot
  • Detonates Sundered with Fade Bolts
• Davrin
  • Applies Overwhelm with Heroic Strike
  • Detonates Weakened with Death From Above
• Emmrich Volkarin
  • Applies Weakened with Entangling Spirits
  • Detonates Sundered with Final Rites
• Lace Harding
  • Applies Sundered with Shred
  • Detonates Overwhelm with Heavy Draw
• Lucanis Dellamorte
  • Applies Sundered with Debilitate
  • Detonates Overwhelm with Eviscerate
• Neve Gallus
  • Applies Weakened with Glacial Pace
  • Detonates Sundered with Icebreaker
• Taash
  • Applies Overwhelm with Spitfire
  • Detonates Weakened with Dragonfire Strike

In fact, the Primers & Detonators mechanic is the most important when considering which companions can become your best buddies! For example, if your build specializes in applying the Sundered effect, you will want companions such as Neve Gallus, Bellara Lutare, and Emmrich Volkarin which specifically detonate the Sundered effect with their abilities.

Additionally, you will want to get companions who can be customized to synergize with the specific Damage Type that you wish to inflict upon your foes. Thankfully, your companions are quite flexible in that sense, each of them coming with 5 different Skill Paths to choose from, alongside Weapons, Armor, and Trinkets that can be modified to achieve the best results.

Equipping the Best Gear

Runes

Dragon Age: The Veilguard brings a new and interesting approach to the equipment that both Rook and the Companions can make use of! Besides the traditional gear slots such as Weapons, Armor, Jewelry, and Trinkets, the game also offers a new option: Runes.

Runes bring powerful active and passive effects, with each granting at least one active and one passive effect. Some Runes are more powerful than others, and Rook can have up to 3 Runes equipped at a time.

Equipment

Besides Runes, each gear piece comes with unique effects, holding up to 4 Traits for Legendary Gear, that synergize with the effects from your build. As a good example, some equipment can directly interact with your Abilities or the specific damage type that you inflict.

Some gear pieces can even give extremely powerful bonuses — the Primers & Detonators mechanic, for example, inflicting status effects like Bleeding upon detonating effects like Overwhelmed.

You will want the equipment that synergizes the most with either the specific Primers & Detonators or abilities & afflictions that you and your companions specialize in.

Enchantments

Lastly, Dragon Age: The Veilguard also features an Enchantment System that can be accessed in the Lighthouse Main Hub area! The Caretaker offers the Enchantment System, allowing you to place one additional effect on your equipment. Enchantments will be progressively unlocked, with players being able to upgrade the system up to Rank 8.

You will want to select the enchantments that synergize the most with the rest of your setup and ensure each piece of gear gets enchanted.

Hopefully, this article gives you all the information you need for planning your very own build and tackling the threats that Dragon Age: The Veilguard has in store for you! Do you have personal great tips or suggestions for creating builds in the game? Let us know in the comments below!