BioWare has shown off some brief glimpses of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s action-oriented combat over the past two months. But all we’ve seen thus far is some early encounters with the Rogue class and some flashy spells for the Mage. Now, the studio is getting into the nuts and bolts of The Veilguard’s combat with a 10-minute showcase spotlighting the Warrior class.
The trailer shows every step of preparing your version of protagonist Rook for the foes they’ll face while trying to stop another world-ending cataclysm in the Dragon Age universe. This includes assigning abilities, as you’ll have to make a loadout of select attacks similar to Mass Effect: Andromeda rather than having a huge wheel to choose from in the previous games, navigating the skill tree and specializations, as well as choosing equipment that will be effective against enemies you know you’ll be facing on a certain quest. The showcase also shows the party selection screen — which feature my husbands Davrin and Lucanis — so you can see how party members interact on the battlefield as well.
The encounter shown in the trailer includes fighting Darkspawn enemies, which are used to showcase enemy elemental weaknesses. With the Warrior class, you’ll be able to empower your weapons with elemental affinities such as a passive fire property, meaning you won’t be without options for elemental damage if there’s no mage in your party. The video also shows off companion commands, party synergy, and some stats and debuffs to be mindful of. The trailer wraps things up showing off primers and detonators, which, again, feels very Mass Effect-y in terms of one character setting up enemies with a status effect and another following it up for explosive damage. On top of having two companions you only control through commands, it definitely feels like a lot of the design philosophies of the science fiction series have made their way to Dragon Age.
Overall, despite the action-heavy leanings, The Veilguard does seem to have a fair bit going on under the hood. Whether that’s enough for folks who miss the tactical nature of Dragon Age: Origins remains to be seen, but it still looks like a lot of systems happening in real-time. Check out the full showcase below:
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on October 31, and if you want to learn more about its companions while you wait, BioWare is putting out a weekly audio drama that will focus on each of its seven party members.
