BioWare has been sharing some brief glimpses of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s action-oriented combat over the past two months. So far, though, we’ve only seen a few early encounters with the Rogue class and a few flashy spells for the Mage. Now, the studio is getting into the details of The Veilguard’s combat, putting the Warrior class front and center in a 10-minute presentation.
The trailer shows every step you take to prepare your version of protagonist Rook for the enemies he’ll face as he tries to prevent another world-shattering catastrophe in the Dragon Age universe. This includes assigning skills, as you’ll have to put together a selection of attacks similar to Mass Effect: Andromeda rather than having a giant selection wheel at your disposal like in the previous games, navigating the skill tree and specializations, and selecting gear that will be effective against enemies you’ll face on a given mission. The presentation also shows off the party selection screen – which features my husbands Davrin and Lucanis – so you can also see how party members interact on the battlefield.
The encounter shown in the trailer involves fighting Darkspawn enemies, which serve to demonstrate the elemental weaknesses of enemies. The Warrior class allows you to empower your weapons with elemental affinities such as a passive fire trait, meaning you won’t be left without options for elemental damage if there’s no mage in your party. The video also shows companion commands, party synergies, and some stats and debuffs to be aware of. The trailer rounds things out by showing off percussion caps and detonators, which again feels very Mass Effect-like, as one character will imbue enemies with a status effect and another will follow suit to deal explosive damage. Aside from having two companions that you control solely via commands, it definitely feels like a lot of the sci-fi series’ design philosophies have found their way into Dragon Age.
Overall, The Veilguard seems to have a lot going on under the hood despite its action-heavy focus. Whether that’s enough for people who miss the tactical nature of Dragon Age: Origins remains to be seen, but it still looks like a lot of systems are running in real time. Check out the full presentation below:
Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be released on October 31 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. If you want to learn more about his companions while you wait, BioWare is releasing a weekly audio drama that focuses on each of the seven party members.
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