All You Need to Know About Dragon Age: The Veilguard

A decade after Dragon Age: Inquisition was released, we finally get a sequel — and not just any sequel; this one is a direct continuation of the story (unlike previous installments), and it’s set 10 years after the events of the previous game. 

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is set to be released on 31st October, 2024 and I’m here to tell you all you need to know about it before it comes out. 

If you haven’t played Dragon Age: Inquisition before, please be aware that there will be spoilers (it’s inevitable, due to the connected nature of these two games).  

Storyline

As mentioned, The Veilguard is set ten years after the events of the Inquisition. It’s still all happening in Thedas, but you’ll get to see and explore new areas of this world, most notably the Tevinter Imperium. The story will likely begin in Minrathous, but then will expand to other areas like Arlathan Forest or Rivain.

Please note that the world isn’t open — instead, there are handcrafted areas to explore, with the world expanding a lot after a certain point in the game, which will allow for more off-the-beaten-path exploration. 

You’ll play as Rook, the leader of the Veilguard. Once your character gets wind of Solas planning to take down the Veil, they will unite with Varric and Harding (see more about them below) to stop the magic ritual. And even though you’ll disrupt the magic, you’ll also release two evil deities from the Fade (other side of the Veil) — Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain. Then it’s up to you and your motley crew of allies to save the world from them. 

This is quite a departure from what the fans expected — Solas as the main villain. He does appear in the first few scenes, but then gets replaced by these new deities. Which is fine, and Solas is still the big bad, I guess, but not as involved in the game as most fans expected. 

To put this into context for people who haven’t played the game before, Solas was a companion in Dragon Age: Inquisition and one of the most beloved characters. He turned out to be Dreadwolf, an ancient Elven deity and he created the Veil he now seeks to destroy. So the story would have felt more personal to the player if he was a more prominent part of it. 

In the Inquisition,  you could import the state of the world you achieved before (in the previous game) based on your choices and decisions. The Veilguard has a different approach, though — instead of importing, you’ll be able to adjust the state of the world with the character customization. Don’t worry if you’re new — there will be context clues. You’ll even get to create your own Inquisitor, who will appear at some point in the game. 

Character Customization

Now, the character creator promises to be one of the best and most detailed ever made by BioWare. You’ll have the opportunity to extensively edit and adjust the body of your character, the pronouns (separate from gender), voices (English or American), background, etc. 

There will be more than 40 skin colors and complexions and just as many horn types. In addition to that, there will be 30+ makeup styles. 

You can choose from six factions: 

• Shadow Dragons
• Grey Wardens
• Lords of Fortune
• Mourn Watch
• Antivan Crows
• Veil Jumpers

And there will be three classes and three specializations per class: 

• Mage. With this class, you can choose to be a Death Caller (necromancer), Spellblade (melee attack, but magic), or Evoker (elemental magic).
• Rogue. You can choose to be a Duelist (dual wielding and speed), Saboteur (traps and tricks, crowd control), or Veil Ranger (a classic ranged style)
• Warrior. The specializations are: Reaper (siphon health from enemies via blades), Slayer (wield two weapons), Champion (weapon + shield; defense and taking hits for the party)

Please note that Blood Magic won’t be available in this installment. 

There will also be four playable races: 

• Human
• Elf
• Dwarf
• Qunari

Gameplay

Based on what the developers have talked about so far, and the hands-off gameplay demo, the combat system is meant to be more action-focused than any other Dragon Age game. 

You’ll be able to choose three abilities to actively use in combat and then you can swap two of them mid-fighting. There will also be the Ultimate which will depend on your specialization. You’ll have light attacks, heavy attacks, combo opportunities, and more. The combos will have a pause feature so you can dash away if needed. There will also be crafting and transmogrification.

Each time you level up, you’ll get a skill point which you can spend on the skill tree. This is said to be massive and inspired by Final Fantasy X. You can unlock skills, passives, traits, etc. But don’t worry about getting locked into a certain skill tree — around mid game, you’ll be able to change your character set up. 

During combat, you won’t be able to control the companions, but you can give them orders — otherwise, they’ll act on their own. 

Companions

In Dragon Age: Veilguard, you can recruit 7 companions and have 3 of them in your party. The initial response to the characters was not too positive, but has since improved. Here’s a list: 

• Neve. In Dragon Age: Inquisition, Neve joined the player’s party to help investigate Solas, and based on what we know, she’ll continue being a big part of the story. 
• Davrin. He’s new to the series, and a member of the Grey Wardens. He’s also a monster hunter and meant to be bold and charming. In addition to that, he seems to be the fan favorite in terms of romance. 
• Bellara. This is another new character; an elf and a rogue and a part of a group dedicated to protecting the Arlathan Forest. From what we know of her so far, she’s optimistic and romantic, with a creative and curious side. 
• Harding. This is a fan-favorite character and one familiar from Inquisition. She’s a dwarf and a scout and will be getting a bigger role in The Veilguard. In addition to that, Bioware has stated that she might have some magical powers. 
• Lucianis. This character is a human rogue who is a member of the Anitvan Crows which has been in the background of all Dragon Age games, but with no prominent members since Zevran in the first part. Lucianis is an assassin and a mage killer. 
• Emmrich. This is a necromancer and a part of the Mourn Watch. He’s a human mage and has a skeleton assistant.
• Taash. Expect a fighter with a penchant for adventuring. In addition to that, Taash is a Ione Qunari companion and a member of the Lords of Fortune (treasure hunters). 

Based on what we know, there’s one more character involved — Varric. He doesn’t appear to be a party member but he’ll be in a leadership role of The Veilguard and an important part of the game. 

As with previous parts, all companions will be available for romance. If you don’t romance them, they’ll find a companion among the rest of the party. Your choices will impact how their stories unfold and develop, so be careful. BioWare’s representatives have previously stated that they want the main focus of the game to be on companions. 

All of your companions will rest in the Lighthouse and this is where you can expect most of their stories to unfold. 

And even though the new info about the companions was welcomed, the long standing fans of the franchise are disappointed. There have been comments that the companions look more like they belong in a shooter game than in a fantasy adventure — which is admittedly true. 

The BioWare team has mentioned that they wanted to put more details into the character design, all the while dogging on what was done in previous games. Which, considering the success and the love that the previous games have, is not really fair. 

Behind the Scenes

It’s hard to talk about Dragon Age: The Veilguard without talking about all the drama that went on behind the scenes (and right on the stage). 

This game began as a small, narrative-driven game in 2015. However, due to Mass Effect being in development, the team got constantly interrupted until it was disbanded and the creative director resigned from BioWare. This was followed by a series of high-position roles being filled, then those people resigning after a while. Which is not great for any game, let alone one of this size. 

At different points, Veilguard was meant to have a multiplayer option and other elements which were then scrapped. And then there was the mass layoff in 2023. 

The name change didn’t sit right with many people. The Dreadwolf was such a cool name, not to mention one that tied in perfectly with the previous game, The Inquisition, and it hinted at Solas being a bigger part of the game. But then it was changed and fans did not like it (can you really blame them?). 

As mentioned, most people weren’t excited about the character design changes — but some of those fears were assuaged after the gameplay demo. 

It doesn’t help that the BioWare representatives for the game have been dogging on the previous games — all extremely successful and well loved — in order to make The Veilguard look better. 

Nothing was left alone — the combat in previous games “wasn’t fun” or “wasn’t too bad” but The Veilguard will be much better. The character design was “too simplistic”; the companions and their stories “not intentional enough”. 

And of course, these people are entitled to their own opinions, especially since they worked on the Dragon Age franchise for a long time, but it all feels like a cop out. Like they’re afraid that The Veilguard isn’t good enough or is too different and so they need to shit on all other games in order to give this one a boost. 

As for me, I’m cautiously optimistic. Yes, there have been some bad takes, but I still love the Dragon Age games and I’m looking forward to trying out this new one. The trailers look amazing and all of the characters seem fun. I even like the combat from what I’ve seen. So, I’m very (cautiously) excited for it.

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