After studying the guide for Dragon Age The Veilguard with useful tips for beginners, you can learn a lot of useful information that will allow you to avoid serious mistakes at the beginning of the game or save you from having to perform useless actions.
In this guide, we will cover the main points of the game, which will allow you to quickly delve into its gameplay. Note that this is mainly basic and superficial information, so do not look for deep tactics and strategies in the article – they will be covered in separate guides.
The main character and pumping
Don't spend a lot of time customizing the hero's appearance
Some players are ready to spend hours in the editor, trying to create the perfect appearance for their hero, believing that they will then have to go through the entire game with him. Luckily, in Dragon Age The Veilguard you can change your character's appearance at almost any time by using the Mirror of Transformation in the Lighthouse (you'll get to this hub in the first hour of the main story).
It's better to spend more time choosing a faction and class, since these parameters cannot be changed, so you will be stuck with them for the entire game. In separate guides, we gave recommendations regarding the choice of these characteristics of the protagonist (see the links above).
Prioritize combo skills
The combat system in Veilguard is more dynamic than in previous parts, and the skill system is quite forgiving of mistakes. What's more, you can get all your points back and redistribute them at any time if you want to try out other skills, all for free.
Each class has both melee and ranged attacks, and the best way to use your team is to equip them with skills that complement and synergize with each other. In order to activate a combo skill, one of them must be an applicator and the other must be an exploder. In the skill descriptions, these will be marked in red/orange and labeled as Applies or Explodes.
In short, you can cause a combo between the abilities of two characters to get a greater effect. That is, you first need to impose a certain status on the enemy, and then launch an explosion.
To change the skills of characters, go to the “Companions” menu, select the desired hero and hover the cursor over his currently used skills at the bottom of the screen. Select those you want to change to open a window with available abilities. Then simply make the replacement.
Items sold by merchants can increase stats
This is a rather strange mechanic that the game is silent about. When looking at random items on the merchants' counters, it may seem that all of them exist only to be given away later to increase the faction's power, but if you check their descriptions, you will sometimes notice that some of them give your character a permanent stat boost when purchased.
Get a specialization as soon as possible
When you first see the vast web of skill trees, you'll likely experience analysis paralysis because you don't know which direction to go. The best way to get your bearings is to check out the three specializations you have access to and see which one you like best. You can only have one specialization active at a time, so just start working towards it by unlocking the skills associated with it. It unlocks at level 20.
Don't forget that you can reset your build at any time if you don't like it and build a new one. There will be no penalties for this.
Improve and enchant your equipment
Throughout your journey, you will likely find duplicate items that can be used to increase the rarity of existing gear.
Likewise, you can find Mementos as loot or from vendors. They increase the power of the Overseer, a spectral entity that aids you in the Fade. Collect enough of them, and you can increase the rank of the Overseer's shop.
As your Overseer ranks up, you'll gain access to new enchantments that can be applied to weapons, armor, and accessories. It will also increase the maximum upgrade level your gear can achieve.
Enemies and Combat
Learn to Defeat Enemies
One of the most important Dragon Age: The Veilguard tips concerns recognizing and eliminating enemies with extra armor:
- Enemies with yellow health bars are armored. You can perform attacks that destroy their armor by pressing the Shift key and the left mouse button at the same time.
- Enemies with blue health bars have a magical barrier. Using spells or performing ranged attacks by pressing the “Q” key will help to easily destroy such protection.
- Enemies with shields can be defeated by holding left mouse button to perform a charged heavy attack.
Master Dodging, Blocking, and Stunning
You should watch the indicators when enemies are about to attack you:
- Red flashes, including those on the ground, cannot be blocked. They can only be dodged by pressing the space bar.
- White and yellow flashes indicate that the attack can be blocked. If you right-click during a yellow flash, your character will perform a perfect block and push away nearby enemies.
Performing a perfect block, as well as constantly striking the enemy, will increase their stagger meter. Then you can perform a devastating stunning blow by pressing the “E” key.
Sometimes you can retreat
With backtracking in the game, you'll occasionally encounter elite enemies and bosses that are 10 or even 20 levels higher than your characters. Don't worry, you're not playing Dark Souls yet, where you have to overcome impossibly strong enemies. Just retreat and come back to the fight a little later.
Of course, no one forbids you to try to kill high-level enemies already at the early stage of the game, but it will take a lot of your time and effort. Let's add that sometimes you will come across “Corruption Cysts” (see the screenshot above), after destroying which a strong mob usually appears. So make sure you clear the arena of enemies before destroying these objects. Otherwise, you will have a very hot fight.
Destroy vases with rolls
Health potions are hidden in the green vases that the developers generously placed throughout the levels. They allow you to replenish your elixir supplies or instantly restore your characters' health.
If you are in the heat of battle, we advise you not to try to destroy these vessels with regular blows (this takes about 2-3 seconds), but simply break them with rolls. This way you will not only be able to avoid a possible enemy attack, but also will not waste precious time, the lack of which may well lead to the death of the entire party.
Take a healer with you
When finding new companions, be sure to open their abilities window in the stats menu and look carefully to see if they have a hidden healing skill. Many companions have them, but they are often not in the list of active skills by default, which is, of course, very bad. The fact is that an ally who can automatically or on command heal the party is an extremely useful support, given the limited supply of healing potions.
Factions and Companions
Don't be afraid to romance everyone at once
Of course, like in many other BioWare games, in the new Dragon Age you will be able to romance your companions. This time, the developers offered players 7 romantic interests at once, each with its own backstory and character. Along with this, a dilemma arose – who to choose?
However, you shouldn't worry too much about this. Don't be afraid to flirt with all the characters you like to get a feel for the relationship with them. The thing is that when it comes to dedicating yourself to only one chosen one, the game will make it as obvious as possible, that is, if you romance 2-3 companions at the same time, then at a certain point you only need to decide who exactly you will end up with.
The format of relationship development remains the same as in Inquisition – during the dialogue, a response option with a heart icon will be presented, so it is quite difficult to miss. Apparently, the romance system and “Approval” exist independently of each other, so you will not have to exhaust yourself, increasing the ratings of companions just to open cute cutscenes with your beloved (but you will need to do this to unlock new skills for them).
So feel free to flirt with them in dialogues, complete their personal quests, and be sure to give them gifts whenever possible to ensure a positive impression on them.
Try to increase approval with companions
By “Approval” we mean an indicator that demonstrates your relationships with different companions. The higher it is, the more skill points you can get for their further spending on new skills. The best way to get approval is to simply complete quests.
However, after completing the mission, this parameter will increase only for those companions who accompanied you. For this reason, try to regularly change the composition of your group, taking different characters with you on missions. Plus, this will allow you to listen to different conversations between your party members.
Approval increases quite a bit by completing companions' personal quests, giving them gifts, and participating in conversations they initiate. Each companion has specific gifts that you can purchase from merchants associated with their factions. These items are explicitly listed as gifts, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding them. Plus, they're relatively inexpensive. Your companions will then display your gifts in their rooms.
Visit the Lighthouse Often
Your companions and their stories are one of the main driving forces of the game, both in terms of narrative and mechanics. They all have their own quest lines, but their development only occurs when you interact with them in the Lighthouse.
To keep moving their stories forward, be sure to fast travel to and from the Lighthouse every now and then. Each time you finish talking to your companions and then re-enter the hub, they may have something new to say or give you a quest depending on where you are in the main story.
If you did this and nothing new appeared, then this means that you can continue to play the main story without fear of missing anything.
In some cases, an angry answer is the best
Veilguard suffers from the classic dialogue wheel problem, where the summary shown in the dialog box often doesn't reflect what your character actually says. Knowing this, you shouldn't always avoid the more aggressive or mean options, as it's very rare that your character will be truly mean to someone, even if you really want to. So don't be afraid to experiment sometimes.
Sometimes You'll Have to Make Difficult Decisions
Be prepared to encounter situations where your answers will have long-term consequences that extend throughout the rest of the story. Here are some notable examples:
- During the prologue, you must choose who will help you stop Solas' ritual – Harding or Nev. Whichever companion you choose, your relationship with them will improve significantly, but they will also suffer visible injuries that will take some time to heal.
- A few hours into the campaign, you'll need to choose which city to help: Minrathous or Treviso. The city you neglected will eventually fall to the Blight, and your companion from that location will become “hardened” as a result. They'll gain a buff to their damage-dealing abilities, but will no longer be able to use support or healing skills.
Strengthen Factions Throughout the Campaign
During your adventures, you will form alliances with various factions, such as the Grey Wardens, the Antivan Crows, and so on. You will need to strengthen their forces for the final battle with the elven gods. This is done by completing quests (often missions in the relevant regions) and selling valuables to their merchants.
Trading shops can also be upgraded. This will allow you to purchase additional weapons, armor, and cosmetic items.
Exploring Locations
Don't forget to return to previous locations
Some areas will only become accessible once you have a specific companion at your disposal. The thing is, almost every companion has a unique ability that allows you to change the terrain to open up new areas. For example, Nev can activate wards, Bellara can repair elven devices, Harding can lift and move stone slabs, and Lucanis's demon can create spectral platforms.
If you don't have the character you need, you'll see a text on the screen to that effect – in this case, continue to progress through the story until you find the right team member.
We'll add that thanks to the quick action combat wheel (and the lyrium dagger), once you have a companion at your disposal, you don't have to make them part of your active party to use their unique ability.
Keep an eye on the icons on the map
Like previous Dragon Age games, Veilguard has a hub where you can rest between missions and check in on your companions. It's called the Lighthouse, and each party member will have their own room here.
It's a good idea to get into the habit of opening your map every time you visit this location, as it will show any new quests and dialogue options that are available. If a character has an exclamation mark above them, that means they have a quest for you (often a personal story that will help you improve your relationship with them).
If there is a dialogue bubble next to the icon, it means that a conversation or a full-fledged cutscene is available with the character. It should be noted that these events are often limited in time and can disappear when completing the next story quest, so try not to miss them.
Pay attention to the mini-map
The mini-map not only allows you to track your immediate route, but also to monitor the appearance of treasures. The fact is that it will automatically mark important objects if they are near you. In this case, icons of a chest (treasure) or Solas (altar) will appear under the map.
The map also shows stairs, which is very helpful in spatial orientation, since sometimes it is unclear where to go, and thanks to the icons of the stairs, it becomes clear that the desired area is located below or above.
The game does not have a full-fledged open world
Considering how huge Inquisition was, the lack of a full-fledged open world may seem like a downgrade at first. However, the developers decided to simply return to the roots of the series, where there were just a few small locations where the main events of the game took place.
The team has expanded on this concept a bit, though. You'll need to complete a story mission in a new area to begin the process, and then be able to freely search for treasure chests and take on side quests. On the main map, you'll be able to hover over previously explored locations to see if they have new quests to complete. We recommend doing this after completing each story chapter.
We'll add that you don't need to go through the Crossroads every time to move between regions. If you've already visited a certain location once, you can quickly teleport there using the main map.
Save Often While Exploring
When you're on a story quest or even a side quest, the autosave system kicks in quite often. If you lose a boss fight, you'll be thrown not very far from the battle. However, the same can't be said when you're simply exploring the world, looking for secrets and hidden chests. For this reason, don't forget to save yourself in case you suddenly encounter a high dragon or other powerful enemy.
Uncover the Secrets of the Crossroads
The Crossroads is an interdimensional hub with portals to distant lands and kingdoms. It also holds many secrets, including inaccessible paths covered in fel corruption. These can only be unlocked by defeating the Darkspawn Champions that are common in other regions. You may even learn of Solas's connection to the Crossroads along the way…
Be sure to look for chests and altars
Many regions in Dragon Age The Veilguard contain collectibles, the locations of which can be found on the interactive world map. These include the following:
- Evanuris Altars: Interact with these elven statues to cause floating plates to appear in the area. Once you destroy them, you will receive a permanent +100 boost to your maximum health.
- Fen'Harel Statues: Interact with these wolf statues to cause them to spin. Head to the location the statue is facing and look for the glowing statue. Once you pick it up, you will receive +1 skill point.
- Treasure chests of all shapes and sizes are scattered throughout Thedas. Some provide materials, while others will reward you with pieces of gear. Of particular note are the ornate chests, which reward you with unique items.
Useful Tips
Sell the accumulated junk
As you progress through the game, you will probably accumulate a huge amount of useless things in your pockets, but you will not know what to do with them. The thing is that you will not be able to sell it to the nearest merchant – there are only a few merchants who buy your items. We are talking about faction merchants who are located at faction bases (what a surprise!).
Selling items to Factions will earn you points that will go towards the “Shop Rank”. The higher this indicator is, the better the equipment upgrades and memorabilia they will have for sale. This is an important part of improving your relationships with factions and upgrading your equipment, so choose carefully who exactly to sell your unnecessary junk to.
Complete all available side quests before story quests
Story quests not only advance the main story, but also change the world, opening up access to new additional quests and activities. This is especially true for companions' personal stories, which are often directly tied to the main plot and narrative.
For this reason, we advise you to first complete all the side missions available in the world before moving forward with the main story, as this will not only open up a whole bunch of new quests, but may also block access to some old assignments.
This concludes our guide for Dragon Age The Veilguard. We hope that the useful tips listed here will help you get used to the game right away and avoid making serious mistakes at the beginning.
