Everything you need to know before launching Dragon Age: Veilguard

It’s been 10 years since the release of the popular fantasy role-playing game Dragon Age: Inquisition. Now the long-awaited sequel, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, is finally here and it’s time to set off on its journey. To be honest, I wasn’t interested in this series before. After I’ve only been playing for a few hours for the first time last month, Veilguard quickly rose to the top of my list as one of the most anticipated releases of 2024.

But it can be a difficult game to navigate, considering it’s such a massive adventure with so much going on. Whether you’re new to the series or have been waiting to get your hands on the game since its release. from Dreadwolf, I’ll support you. I’ve prepared a list of tips to help you go beyond rook character creation and beyond. Veilguard is a long process – over 40 hours – so knowing what to do and where to start will give you the push you need to begin your own Dragon Age journey. Let’s get started.

Play in Performance Mode

If you’re playing on a console, the first thing you need to do is set your graphics settings to Performance. This mode prioritizes the game’s frame rate, increasing it and decreasing the game’s resolution. Fidelity mode sacrifices frame rate for visual effects, which is something I generally prefer. But Veilguard’s art style isn’t hyper-realistic, falling somewhere between detailed and cartoonish. Because of this, lowering the resolution doesn’t actually result in a dramatic deterioration in the game’s visuals – the aesthetics are stylized enough to look great.

Combat in Veilguard is so fun and fast-paced that this is where prioritizing framerate really helps enhance the experience. Trust me, you want the smoothest visuals you can get as you dodge the warp across the battlefield, sending spell after spell and timing your parries just right.

Quick access to companion skills

To use your team’s various combat skills, you need to hold down the right shoulder button (RB if you’re using an Xbox controller). This will trigger the ability wheel and also freeze time so you can attack specific enemies. It includes both your own skills and the skills of your comrades. However, if you prefer to use these attacks faster and without stopping the fight, you can instead hold down the left trigger and press one of the face buttons to use your abilities, or the D-pad button to use your allies. to quickly repel an attack.

The only downside to quick access is that you lose sight of which specific skills will combine together to produce a more powerful effect. While it’s nice to use the LT shortcut quickly, be sure to check your ability wheel every now and then to know which attacks should be chained together.

Obstacle coping abilities can be used whenever

At the beginning of the game you will be taught that certain obstacles require a specific companion to overcome. For example, Bellara can repair broken magical devices that can create bridges or open paths. Different characters can overcome different obstacles, but you can only take two teammates with you at any given time.

If you’ve played Pokemon and remember having certain Pokemon in your party because of the HM moves they knew, you won’t need to do that in Veilguard. Even though you may not have a suitable ally to overcome this obstacle, with some fictitious wave of your hand you can actually interact with these objects even if your ally is not with you. This allows you to not worry about the team you’ve assembled just for the sake of being able to explore further.

Buy and sell often

The best merchants you find in the game can also be upgraded as you progress. You can find out if a merchant has an upgrade path on the right side of the store menu. Upgradable shops will also buy trinkets from your inventory, while non-upgradeable shops will only sell them to you. Both buying and selling to them will increase your rank in the store, and once you have the right crafting material, you can increase that rank. Upgrading the store will increase the quality, capacity, and quantity of items they sell you.

“Values” are actually useless

There are plenty of shiny collectibles scattered around the world. In fact, there are almost an absurd number of them. These “valuables”, as they are categorized in your inventory, don’t really serve any purpose other than to sell, as anyone who has played Inquisition will be familiar with. These will range from items such as a fancy scarf and veil crystals, to green bottles or a sleek pebble. Don’t get hung up on them thinking you can use them for crafting or trading – they’re useless except for selling. Merchants will buy all that junk from you with the click of a button, and this will help you rank up that seller’s offerings.

Hide helmets during conversations

One of the great aspects of Veilguard is that the weapons and armor you equip will show up in the game and change your character’s appearance during cutscenes. This is great when looking for stylish new gear, but becomes a problem when wearing a helmet that hides your character’s face (which you’ve probably spent a lot of time customizing in the character editor). You’ll spend a lot of time talking, and hiding your character will result in missing facial expressions and emotions.

However, in the Character menu, where you select and equip your weapons and armor, there is an eyeball icon next to the helmet slot. Selecting this option will toggle the appearance of the helmet during a call. Now you can enjoy a stylish helmet while fighting and exploring, while still seeing your character’s face up close during important interactions.

Switch weapon and armor skins

Similar to the helmet switch, there is a similar option for the rest of your weapons and armor. Throughout the game, you’ll find different skins for your gear, some of which may look cooler than the stronger options at your disposal. Next to each equipment slot is an eyeball icon (just like a helmet) that you can turn on or off. This option allows you to equip a sword or cape to gain higher stats while having another skin in the game, sometimes known in other games as glamour, or transmog. Now you can keep your favorite fashion item in plain sight while still getting the benefits of more durable gear.

Don’t miss conversations by time

Between quests, you’ll spend a lot of time at your group’s hub, the Lighthouse. Here you can explore and interact with your companions, learning more about their backstory or talking about recent events. Luckily, the game’s map menu will tell you the location of each companion and let you know if they have anything new to discuss. This will save you from having to run around the area checking each of your seven allies. These conversations are important because they flesh out the world of Veilguard and offer opportunities to strengthen your bond with each party member.

There are two types of icons that you should pay attention to. The first is a speech bubble with an exclamation point inside. This means a new conversation is ready, so it’s worth checking out this person. The second, and more important, icon is a speech bubble with a set of clock hands inside. These are time-limited conversations, which means they won’t be available for a long time. Before you go on a new quest, prioritize meeting with these allies, otherwise you may miss this conversation entirely.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard releases on Thursday, October 31st for PC, Xbox series X and SAnd PlayStation 5.