What are the best Dragon Age The Veilguard builds? Whether you’re a Mage, Rogue, or Warrior, a lot of work goes into building your Rook. Not only do you have abilities and buffs to worry about, but specializations to spec into at higher levels. What’s more, the sprawling skill tree for each class can be a little daunting to parse.
Never fear – our guide to the best builds in Dragon Age The Veilguard delves deep into how each Veilguard class performs at its optimal level. Before you get too invested in a build, check out our complete list of Veilguard companions to avoid any party overlap which could put a dampener on a Veilguard romance. Once you’ve chosen your class, it’s time to start building.
Best Dragon Age The Veilguard Mage build
Here’s the best Mage build in Dragon Age Veilguard:
- Specialization: Spellblade
- Faction: Antivian Crows or Shadow Dragons
- Key abilities: Chain Lightning, Storm Surge, Void Blade
- Ultimate ability: Thunderous End
- Key traits/passives: Nexus Shock, Shocking Strikes, Veil Flurry
This lightning Mage build is DPS-focused to hit many enemies at once. While you might find yourself closer to enemies than you’d like as a caster, it’s a great build for Rook since you can pick allies to support you, either drawing aggression away or applying status effects en masse. This build primarily uses the orb and dagger weapon type.
Davrin is a great companion for this build as he can draw aggression with his Battle Cry ability. Your Storm Surge ability applies Overwhelm, freeing you up to bring either Harding or Lucanis along with you to detonate it frequently. Davrin can also apply Sundered, which this lightning Mage build can detonate with Void Blade.
Specialization
Specializations unlock at level 20 and there are three to choose from for the Mage: Death Caller, Evoker, and Spellblade. While all are fun in their own right, Spellblade is the best choice as it provides the powerful Void Blade ability essential for the best Mage build. It also grants further traits to buff strike attacks, including the three main abilities in this build’s rotation.
No other Mage companion steps on your toes if you go this route. Emmrich is similar to a Death Caller and Neve wields ice magic much like an Evoker, meaning you have a unique edge with possible party comps.
Factions
While your faction choice is mostly for narrative flair, two options do help with this build.
Thematically, the Spellblades are Antivan Crows. What’s more, however, is this faction also grants an extra slot for Health Potions, which you’re going to need as a squishy caster getting up close and personal with foes – especially on higher difficulties. The bonus damage against Antaam enemies is a nice but inessential boon.
The Shadow Dragons are generally the best pick for Mage builds as its Resourceful trait allows for mana to regenerate quicker, meaning you can cast your powerful abilities more often. The increased damage against Venatori enemies isn’t particularly useful, though.
Key abilities
Here are the best abilities for the Mage build:
- Chain Lightning: Shoot a bolt of Lightning that branches off to other enemies, applying Overwhelm
- Storm Surge: Leap backward and stir up an elemental storm, applying Overwhelm
- Void Blade: Leap forward and deal damage, causing an explosion and detonating Sundered.
Until you reach level 20 and unlock Void Blade, consider using the Tempest ability to weave a storm around you, dealing damage to those nearby.
Open with Chain Lightning before dashing in with Void Blade, applying Overwhelm and possibly detonating Sundered. Then continue attacking, triggering your Veil Flurry trait to deal more damage, before using Storm Surge to leap backward and start all over again.
Ultimate ability
Thunderous End wins out over the base Mage Ultimate ability, Destructive Light, as it simply works much better with this build’s lightning and shock-focused theme.
Key traits and passives
Here are the best traits and passive for the Mage build:
- Nexus Shock: Building three stacks of shocked on an enemy spreads damage between foes
- Imbued Takedown: Performing a takedown grants a weapon buff that applies shocked
- Veil Flurry: Hold the attack button at the end of a light attack combo with an orb and dagger to send the orb spinning, dealing damage to all nearby enemies
You’ll obtain many more traits and passives with this build, but these are the most important to work toward. That said, you should still grab passives that increase your maximum mana and make you much more potent at the beginning of a fight.
Best Dragon Age Veilguard Rogue Build
Here’s the best Rogue build in Dragon Age Veilguard:
- Specialization: Duelist
- Faction: Veil Rangers
- Key abilities: Toxic Dash, Explosive Daggers, A Thousand Cuts
- Ultimate ability: Concussive Barrage or Murder of Crows
- Key traits/passives: Poisonous Precision, Necrotic Fog, Adrenaline
The best Rogue build is a single-target focus damage dealer that melt your foe’s health bars before they can cause any problems for your party. It eschews the bow in favor of potent dagger-based attacks that mostly deal necrotic damage. It also has a bit of a high skill ceiling as the longer you avoid getting hit, the more powerful it becomes.
The best build plays very well with Mage companions. We lean toward taking Emmrich for his support healing skills to keep your Rook alive and Neve for her Time Stop ability that will allow you to get a lot of hits in, buffing your attacks with the Adrenaline trait. They can then alternate detonating your Sundered-applying abilities. Your Pilfer ability also detonates Overwhelmed if you switch out for a Warrior companion every so often.
Specialization
Specializations unlock at level 20 and there are three to choose from for the Rogue: Duelist, Saboteur, and Void Ranger. The Duelist is our top pick since it deals the most single-target damage of any class or specialization in the game, with abilities like A Thousand Cuts and passives/traits that stack damage.
The Duelist specialization steps on the toes of Lucanis as he plays very similarly, so keep this in mind if you plan to make him a mainstay companion. That said, his skills do differ, so pursuing the best Rogue build is still worthwhile.
Faction
While your Veilguard faction choice is mostly for narrative flair, one pick best suits this build.
While thematically it doesn’t fit, the Veil Rangers are objectively the best faction with their Keen Eye bonus that increases critical hit and weak point damage – both of which this build excels in targeting. The bonus damage to enemies from the Fade is neither here nor there.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a narrative angle, consider taking the Antivan Crows faction. The extra Health Potion slot isn’t a bad trade-off and the faction is full of roguish duelist types.
Key abilities
Here are the best abilities for the Rogue build:
- Toxic Dash: Dash forward and apply Necrosis and Sundered to an enemy
- Explosive Daggers: Throw three daggers that explode and apply Sundered
- A Thousand Cuts: Hit your opponent up to 16 times with a devastating final blow
Until you reach level 20 to unlock Void Blade, consider running Hurricane Blades to deal damage over a wider area, as this build otherwise focuses on single-target damage.
Leave cleaning up mobs of enemies to your companions and focus on the most threatening foes. Throw Explosive Daggers and trigger Sundered with a companion. Then use Toxic Dash to reapply Sundered and hopefully trigger it again before launching into A Thousand Cuts to quickly melt your foes.
Ultimate ability
Both the base Ultimate ability, Concussive Barrage, and the Duelist-specific Murder of Crows are good choices here as they deal quite a lot of damage over a wider area. Concussive Barrage can stagger foes, but Murder of Crows deals quite a bit more damage.
Key traits and passives
Here are the best traits and passives for the Rogue build:
- Poisonous Precision: Apply necrotic to weapons after defeating an enemy by hitting their weak point
- Necrotic Fog: Spending Momentum deals necrotic damage to nearby foes
- Adrenaline: Landing ten attacks without taking damage increases damage further and interrupts foes
You can unlock many more traits and passives with this build, but these are the most potent three for making your Rook the highest-DPS character possible. Adrenaline in particular is very potent and makes this build high skill, high reward. Just be careful avoid damage, otherwise you’ll lose the damage bonus.
Best Dragon Age Veilguard Warrior Build
Here’s the best Warrior build in Dragon Age Veilguard:
- Specialization: Reaper
- Faction: Grey Wardens, Veil Jumpers
- Key abilities: Titan Stomp, Whirlwind, Reaper
- Ultimate ability: Spirit Storm
- Key traits/passives: Masochism, Enduring Rage, Seething Pitch
The best Warrior build is a heavy-hitter that balances both offense and defense by controlling the battlefield and siphoning health from enemies. This build is a great choice for lategame and higher difficulties, as it survives well enough without relying on your companions.
As for the companions themselves, one Mage and one Rogue make for a balanced party as you can detonate the former’s Weakened effect while applying Overwhelmed that a Rogue can then hit. Personally, we enjoyed rolling with Harding and Bellara. Emmrich, Neve, and Lucanis are good choices as well.
Specialization
Specializations unlock at level 20 and there are three to choose from for the Warrior: Champion, Reaper, and Slayer. The Reaper is the best option for this Warrior build since it strikes a happy medium between the defensive properties of the Champion and the burst damage of the Slayer. Instead, use spirit-based attacks to keep yourself alive while still dishing out big hits.
The Reaper also avoids overlapping with your companions. Davrin is a Grey Warden with a Champion-like kit and Taash is more or less a Slayer. While Emmrich also deals necrotic magic, you don’t share similar roles in battle.
Faction
Thematically the Mourn Watch faction is the best for this build. However, its passive trait, Acute Affliction, does little to help as it rarely applies status effects. We recommend the Grey Warden for players that want an easier time. The Vigilant Training passive increases defense and health, making it a great pick for higher difficulties.
That said, if you want to focus mostly on dealing damage, the Veil Jumpers is a good – if not thematically sound – pick to roll with, as you’ll be able to deal more damage to weak points and land critical hits. The bonus damage to monsters from the Fade is nice, too.
Key abilities
Here are the best abilities for the Warrior build:
- Titan Stomp: Stagger enemies with a shockwave around you, applying Overwhelmed
- Whirlwind: Spin in a circle dealing massive damage and staggering enemies
- Reaper: Slash an enemy and siphon their health, detonating Weakened
Until you reach level 20 to unlock Reaper, the Diving Kick starting ability is a great alternative as it also detonates Weakened. If you want a more ghastly flair, consider running Bloody Advance to apply Sundered instead.
To play the best Warrior build, rush into the fray then Titan Stomp your foes before activating Whirlwind to shred them to pieces. Reaper provides a little bit of health regeneration while also detonating Weakened if applied by your Mage companions. Spirit Storm pulls enemies in, allowing you to hit them with Titan Stomp and Whirlwind right after while also healing you, granting some extra survivability.
Ultimate Ability
Spirit Storm wins out over Flashing Fists for the best Warrior build since it has the benefit of increasing your health regeneration against several enemies, helping you to stay alive on higher difficulties. It also looks way cooler.
Key traits and passives
Here are the best traits and passives for the Warrior build:
- Masochism: Generate Rage when taking damage
- Enduring Rage: Rage won’t decrease below 50% unless used
- Seething Pitch: Shield Toss generates more rage per hit
All of the best key passives for the best Warrior build generate Rage via attacking enemies. This can take some time with a slow two-handed weapon, so unlocking it as quickly as possible will keep you stomping and spinning consistently from one battle to the next, spending as little time as possible using basic attacks.
With the best builds in Dragon Age The Veilguard, you should have no trouble completing all Veilguard quests and reaching the Veilguard max level cap no matter your class. Check out our Dragon Age Veilguard review to discover the latest changes to BioWare’s fantasy series, or delve into the our list of the best RPGs to begin an all-new adventure after the credits roll.
