In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, navigating the beautiful and detailed world of Thedas is filled with several gameplay systems that you would expect from a BioWare game. But still, there’s plenty of new things to do and see.
The game is very much about making some smart decisions, building bonds with your companions, and adapting to unique gameplay mechanics. There are plenty of tips and tricks that can make your journey a lot easier. Here are nine tips to help you on your adventure through Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
1. Talk Often to Your Companions at the Lighthouse
Your companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are very fleshed out with in-depth companion quests and chains, and they’re vital to your story and gameplay. Each one has their own backstory and questlines, but these only progress when you interact with them at the Lighthouse. You can also upgrade various gear and items at the Lighthouse, so visiting it often is recommended.
To keep these questlines progressing, try fast-traveling out and back into the Lighthouse every once in a while. After each conversation, reset the Lighthouse to check if they have anything new to say. Sometimes they’ll even give you new quests. If there’s nothing, you’re free to continue with the main questline without missing anything important.
2. Complete Side Quests Before Main Missions
The game’s side quests often unlock after certain main story missions, especially those tied to your companions. Completing as many side quests as possible before heading for a main mission makes sure that you won’t miss anything, as some quests can become unavailable after certain events in the story.
Clearing the side quests also gives you some cool and extra rewards and helps you stay appropriately leveled up for the story without missing out on hidden details and rewards.
3. Build Strong Bonds With Your Companions
As is expected of a team-based RPG, bonding with your companions is more than just optional conversations, as it also powers them up. Your dialogue and story choices, the gifts you give them, and how you respond to situations around them all affect your bond.
As these bonds increase, your companions earn ability points to improve their skills. Later in the game, choices become even more important. You can make decisions that satisfy or deeply upset your companions. In certain cases, they may even enter a “hardened” state, which can lead to some unexpected changes in your relationships and their behavior and attitude towards you. So think twice regarding these big decisions around them.
4. Plan Ahead With Skill Trees and Respec When Needed
Your character in Dragon Age: The Veilguard has access to a pretty big skill tree with multiple branches. Planning your path in advance is important, especially as you approach level 20 and choose a specialization.
Randomly choosing skills might leave you with a weak build, but picking a specialization and combining compatible skills can create a powerful character. You can even respec for free at any time through the Character menu. This lets you test different abilities, switch them out, or focus on certain specializations to create a flexible and effective character that can handle anything in terms of what the game can throw at you.
5. You Can’t Change Your Class, So Be Sure of Your Pick
Your chosen class – Warrior, Rogue, or Mage – decides how you fight. Each class has a unique playstyle which is very in-depth and is entirely dependent on the skill trees as mentioned in the previous tip, so it’s important to pick the one that feels right.
Warriors are all about close combat, blocking, and pulling enemies in. They are equipped with a shield and sword.
Rogues are more versatile and are able to fight up close or at range. They can either dual-wield daggers or use a bow.
Mages, meanwhile, deal high magic damage from a distance, which is perfect for crowd control and when you’re surrounded by multiple enemies. Classes can’t be changed, so pick one that fits your playstyle as you’ll stick with it for the whole game.
6. Go for Intimidating and Aggressive Dialogue Options
The dialogue wheel in Dragon Age: The Veilguard can be a bit tricky. Sometimes, the brief summary in the form of a few words on the wheel doesn’t quite match what your character actually says.
It’s far more fun and interesting to pick options that seem harsh or mean on the wheel. They’re rarely as blunt or cruel as they sound, and most of the dialogue in the game is rather positive, leaving little room for actual negative roleplaying.
Experimenting with dialogue choices helps you get a feel for each option’s tone. Over time, you’ll likely get a pretty good sense of how your choices will actually come across, giving you more control over the kind of character you want to be.
7. Make Use of Companion Abilities Without Switching Them In
Each companion in the game has a unique ability to help navigate the world, like moving rocks or creating platforms. You can summon their powers using your Lyrium dagger, so there’s no need to switch them into your party constantly.
Summoning their powers like this is often faster, as you don’t have to wait for them to get into position. If you know you’ll need an ability, it’s quicker to use this trick rather than bringing the companion along. This also saves you time and keeps your team set up depending on your preferences for characters.
8. Check Companion Loadouts for Healing Skills
Just like most RPGs, having a healer in your party can be pretty important, especially on higher difficulties. When you add a new companion to your party, check their ability loadout on the stat screen to see if they have any hidden healing skills.
Many companions have healing abilities but don’t add them to their usable skill set by default. This can be a big mistake, as having teammates who can heal you in battle is a huge help, especially since potions are limited in the game. You can also command them to use healing abilities when needed and this gives you an extra edge in difficult fights.
9. Mix and Match Armor Without Worrying About Classes
Unlike in many games, Dragon Age: The Veilguard lets you wear whatever armor you like, regardless of your class. Mages can wear heavy armor, and warriors can have mage robes if that’s the look you want. This is pretty much the transmog system that is found in other games.
While armor stats won’t always match your needs, the Spellblade specialization has buffs that are good for mages in medium armor. If you’re more interested in style than stats, you can use the mirror in your room to change your armor’s appearance without changing the stats. So feel free to mix up looks and go with whatever look you prefer.
With all of these tips in mind, Dragon Age: The Veilguard can become a smoother journey, and you’ll get more out of the story, combat, and world exploration. Which of these tips did you find the most important? Let us know in the comments below.
