It’s been 10 years since the blockbuster fantasy game Dragon Age: Inquisition was released. Now, its long-awaited sequel, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, is almost here. It’s been a long wait to finally get our hands on it after our first preview of the game back in June during Summer Game Fest. But now it’s almost here, and you’ll be able to embark on your Veilguard journey soon enough. To be honest, this series didn’t get me invested before. But after playing just a few hours last month, Veilguard jumped to the top of my list as one of my most anticipated releases of 2024.
I’ve had the chance to play over 20 hours of action RPGs so far, and I’m pleased to say that what I’ve played so far is truly amazing. I can’t wait to continue my game until the end after the game comes out on October 31st. Now that it’s only a few days away, I’ve prepared a list of tips that should help you go beyond creating your Rook player character and beyond. Veilguard is long — over 40 hours — so knowing what to do and where to start will give you the jumpstart you need to get started on your Dragon Age journey.
Play in performance mode
Changing the graphics mode in the graphics settings allows you to prioritize frame rates or visuals. I recommend the frame rate.
If you’re playing on a console, the first thing you should do is set your graphics settings to performance mode. This mode prioritizes the game’s frame rate, increasing it higher while lowering the game’s resolution. Fidelity mode sacrifices framerate for visuals — which I usually prefer. But Veilguard’s art style isn’t hyperrealistic, sitting somewhere between detailed and sketchy. Because of this, lowering the resolution doesn’t degrade the game’s visuals drastically — the aesthetic is stylized enough to still look great.
Combat in Veilguard is so fun and fluid, where setting framerate priority really helps elevate the experience. Trust me, you’ll want the smoothest shots you can get when you’re dodging across the battlefield, leaving spells behind, and timing them perfectly.
Quick access to companion skills
Quick access capabilities allow you to stay in the flow of combat.
To use your teams various combat abilities, you need to hold down the right shoulder button (RB if you’re using an Xbox controller). This will bring up a skill wheel as well as freeze time so you can target specific enemies to attack. It includes your abilities as well as your companions. However, if you prefer to use these attacks faster and without stopping combat, you can hold down the left trigger and press one of the face buttons for your skills or a d-pad button for your allies. , to quickly fire an attack.
The only downside to quick access is that you lose the game by highlighting which specific abilities will combine together and release a more powerful effect. While it’s nice to use the LT shortcut quickly, be sure to check the skill wheel every now and then so you know which attacks should be stacked together.
Obstacle abilities can be used at any time
Early in the game you will learn that some obstacles need a specific companion to overcome. For example, Bellara can fix broken magical devices that can create bridges or open paths. Different characters can interact with different obstacles, but you can only bring two teammates with you at any given time.
If you’ve played Pokemon and remember keeping specific Pokemon in your party because of the HM moves they knew, you won’t need to do that in Veilguard. Although you may not have the right ally for that obstacle, through some imaginary hand movements you can interact with those objects even if your ally is not with you. This allows you to not worry about the team you put together just to be able to explore further.
Buy and sell often
The best traders you will find in the game are also the ones that can be upgraded as you progress. You can tell if the merchant has an upgrade path from the right side of the shop menu. Upgradable shops will also buy trinkets from your inventory, while non-upgradable shops will only sell to you. Both buying from them and selling to them will add to your rank in the shop, and once you have the right crafting material, you’ll be able to increase that rank. Upgrading a shop will increase the quality, power and number of items they will sell you.
‘Valuables’ are actually useless
Everything seen here can be sold for cash — in fact, there’s nothing else to do with it.
There are a ton of shiny collections scattered around the world. An almost absurd number of them, in fact. These “valuable items”, as categorized in your inventory, actually serve no other purpose than to be sold, which will be familiar to anyone who has played Inquisition. They will range from items such as a fashionable scarf and crystal veil to green bottles or a polished pebble. Don’t get hung up on these thinking you can use them for crafting or trading – they have no use outside of selling. Dealers will buy all this junk from you with a single click of a button and doing so will help you rank that dealer’s offers.
Hide helmets during conversations
The bold helmet appearance toggle gives you more control over when you see your character’s face.
One of the great aspects of Veilguard is that the weapons and armor you equip will appear in-game and change how your character looks during cutscenes. This is great when you find fancy new gear, but it becomes a problem when you’re wearing a helmet that obscures your hero’s face (which you probably spent a lot of time customizing with the character creator). You will spend a lot of time in conversations and covering the character results in a lack of facial expressions and emotions.
However, in the Character menu, where you choose and equip your weapons and armor, there is an eyeball icon next to the helmet slot. Selecting this will enable or disable the helmet view when in chats. Now you can enjoy stylish steering during battle and exploration, while still seeing your custom character’s face when up close during important interactions.
Change weapon and armor skin
Changing the appearance of the armor is in the same place, one square below.
Like the helmet switch, a similar option is present for the rest of your weapons and armor. Throughout the game you’ll find different skins for your gear, and some may look cooler than the more robust options available to you. Next to each accessory slot is an eye icon (just like the helmet) that you can toggle on or off. This option allows you to equip a sword or cloak in order to get higher stats, while at the same time having a different skin that appears in the game, sometimes known in other games as glamours or transmog. Now you can keep your favorite fashion piece visible while enjoying the most powerful equipment.
Don’t miss out on timely conversations
In between quests you’ll spend a lot of time at your party’s central location, the Lighthouse. Here you can explore and chat with your various companions, learning more about their history or discussing recent events. Thankfully, the game’s map menu will highlight each companion’s location for you and let you know if they have anything new to discuss. This saves you from having to run around the area checking each of your seven allies. These conversations are important as they flesh out the world of Veilguard and provide opportunities to increase your bond with each party member.
There are two types of icons to watch out for. The first is a speech bubble with an exclamation mark inside it. This indicates that a new conversation is ready, so it’s worth checking that person. The second, and most important, icon is a speech bubble with a set of clock hands inside it. These are timed chats, which means they won’t be available for long. Prioritize meeting these allies before setting off on a new quest, or you might miss that conversation entirely.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be released on Thursday, October 31, for PC, Xbox Series X and SAND PlayStation 5.