Embark on your journey in Dragon Age: The Veilguard by meticulously crafting your character, Rook, taking advantage of a robust character editor. Throughout your adventure, you can modify your avatar’s appearance, but some choices—like faction alignment and class selection (Warrior, Thief, Mage)—are final and require careful consideration. Don’t overlook secondary quests to deepen your experience and benefit from the rich lore. Balance your party composition to enhance abilities and explore every location thoroughly to uncover treasures and resources, maximizing your character’s and allies’ potential.
Take Time to Establish the Foundations of Your Journey in the New Dragon Age
A great adventure begins with proper preparation! There’s no secret that the initial steps are always crucial. In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the journey starts with the creation of Rook, the character you’ll embody throughout the game. The character editor is quite comprehensive, allowing you to unleash your creativity. You have the option to meticulously design your avatar, but rest assured that you can always revisit the mirror—literally—during your adventure to make aesthetic adjustments. Be aware, however, that some choices are irreversible, so ensure you carefully weigh your options before finalizing your decisions. This includes selecting the faction associated with your character, configuring events from Dragon Age: Inquisition to ensure continuity, and most importantly, choosing your class from the three available options (Warrior, Rogue, Mage).
Don’t Hesitate to Invest Points in Your Class’s Talent Tree
Early in your journey, you’ll start earning a substantial number of skill points as your avatar levels up. You can allocate these points within your class’s talent tree. Each class offers three specializations which you can unlock by progressing through the talent nodes. The best advice here is to feel free to spend your points as you see fit while gradually acclimating to the gameplay of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Don’t worry—there’s no pressure to spend them immediately, as you can partially or completely retrieve them to reallocate later. This principle also applies to your companions, who gain two skill points with each level up, allowing you to dynamically adjust their talent tree development across five branches.
Venture Beyond the Main Quest to Discover All the Side Content in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
As mentioned earlier, Dragon Age: The Veilguard has significantly changed its structure compared to Dragon Age: Inquisition. Gone are the days of an open world; BioWare has opted for a more narrative-driven and linear experience. Throughout this journey, the story sends you on missions across various locations in the northern part of the continent of Thedas. In our review, we noted that the main storyline isn’t necessarily the game’s strongest aspect, particularly since the narrative feels somewhat traditional, despite having its epic moments. To truly appreciate the writing quality of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, we highly recommend taking the time to complete as many side quests as you can. These include quests related to factions, companions, and regions. In this regard, BioWare has been generous, living up to its reputation by intelligently expanding the lore and themes of the saga. Don’t overlook the richness of The Veilguard by barreling straight into the main storyline; you might find yourself regretting it, and not just for the aforementioned reasons!
Experiment with Team Compositions to Develop Your Companions
While Dragon Age: The Veilguard offers less control over your companions during combat, they remain a vital part of the gameplay experience. Unlike Dragon Age: Inquisition, where you had three allies at your side, you now travel with only two out of a total of seven members of the Veilguard. Consequently, you will need to make choices about which allies to bring along! However, to adapt to the various plot twists in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, we suggest carefully considering each companion and finding combinations to rotate throughout your adventure to ensure even progression. This approach will lead them toward becoming true members of the Veilguard, strengthen your relationships with them, and help them level up for increased combat effectiveness. Having sufficiently powerful companions is invaluable, as it expands the gameplay possibilities to incorporate status effects and combine spells for devastating chain reactions.
Use Missions to Explore Every Nook and Cranny of Each Location and the Crossroads
Continuing from our previous advice, we strongly encourage you to take your time during main missions or as you explore any locations for side objectives in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Despite the linear structure, the significant locations in the game offer varying degrees of exploration. These areas not only serve as the backdrop for certain quests but also have much more to discover. The BioWare teams have added numerous chests containing rewards of varying desirability as well as many resources. Some of these items help improve the various factions in the game, boosting their strength and readiness to support you during major events, while collectibles enhance one of the game mechanics, known as the Watchman’s Workshop.
Both of these features are crucial since assisting factions enhances trade and the equipment they provide. Meanwhile, the Watchman’s Workshop allows for statistical boosts (represented as a number, +1/+2, etc.) to your gear and the ability