Dragon Age: The Veilguard best class — Mage, Rogue, Warrior, Specializations, and which to choose

Dragon Age: The Veilguard best class — Mage, Rogue, Warrior, Specializations, and which to choose

As a seasoned gamer with decades of role-playing games under my belt, I’ve found myself drawn to the rugged resilience of the Warrior class in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Being a fan of tank characters and frontline fighters since my days in the dungeons of yore, I found myself right at home with this stalwart warrior.


In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you’ll face several significant choices, but the one that will shape your adventure most is the class you select. The game offers three classes, each handling combat uniquely, although there is some common ground. However, each class excels with specific strategies and tactics. Later on, you can specialize further in three areas for your class, which will help you fine-tune your playstyle even more.

This game provides quick summaries of every character class during character creation, but it can still be tough to figure out which class suits you best. To assist you in choosing a class for your journey through Thedas, I’ve compiled a guide that breaks down each class’s functionality, their respective specializations, and the playstyles they excel at.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard — Best class to play

Dragon Age: The Veilguard best class — Mage, Rogue, Warrior, Specializations, and which to choose

In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, all classes – Mage, Rogue, and Warrior – hold roughly equal power and strength. Therefore, rather than choosing your class based on its potential effectiveness or raw power, opt for the one that sounds most appealing to play and aligns with your preferred style. Each class’s unique specializations are detailed in the following sections, so be sure to read through them thoroughly before making a decision.

Something important to note is that you won’t be able to reach a Specialization in your character’s skill trees until Level 20, so don’t expect to pick one right away; you’ll need to make some significant story progress before they become available. Also keep in mind that while you can freely spec into a different Specialization at any time, you can only have one active at a time.

Can you change class in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?

As a devoted fan, I must share that in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, once you’ve selected a class, it’s set in stone for your entire gaming journey. This includes your race and faction as well. Since changing classes mid-game isn’t an option, it’s crucial to carefully consider your choice. If you find yourself desiring a different class experience, the only way forward would be to start a fresh game altogether.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard — Mage class

Dragon Age: The Veilguard best class — Mage, Rogue, Warrior, Specializations, and which to choose
  • Races: Elf, Qunari, and Human
  • Armor: Light
  • Weapon: Staves, Dagger and Orb
  • Verbs: Burst, Sustain, Control
  • Specializations: Death Caller, Evoker, Spellblade
  • Resource: Mana (regenerates over time)

Among the three roles in The Veilguard, the Mage is generally considered the most daring one to handle, but it can deliver significant benefits if you become proficient at positioning and spell coordination. Equipped with either Staves or Daggers, along with Orbs, and donning only light armor, Mages specialize in employing arcane powers to boost allies, manage battlefield chaos, and annihilate foes. However, their low health and limited protection make them primarily a rear-line class, necessitating strategies like kiting to keep powerful opponents at bay. It’s worth noting that the Spellblade Specialization provides Mages with the means to engage in close combat effectively, so you can transform into a formidable battlemage if you prefer.

As a Mage, your power source is known as Mana, which restores itself and empowers your most potent and efficient spells. It’s crucial for a Mage to maintain some Mana in reserve at all times, so you can react swiftly to unforeseen situations, like an enemy closing in on you. Running out of it means you’ll need to pause before launching a powerful strike.

In the world of Dragon Age, Dwarves are unable to specialize as Mages because they lack a bond with the Fade realm, which prevents them from wielding magical powers. If you wish to play a Mage character, you should opt for another race instead.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Mage Specializations

In the game Dragon Age: The Veilguard, all three Mage Specializations – the Necromancer, the Elementalist, and the Adept – boast impressive power levels. However, each plays uniquely distinct from the others. Here’s a breakdown to aid your choice:

  • Death Caller: This is your “nuke” style Mage subclass, complete with a strong emphasis on high DPS output with necrotic damage and spells fueled by their own health. Death Callers can drain life from enemies to counteract this, but their lack of strong crowd control means that they’ll struggle to stay in the fight if not positioned well.
  • Evoker: The Evoker also wants to stay away from foes, though they excel at crowd control as opposed to dishing out raw damage. Evokers utilize elemental ice magic to slow and freeze incoming hordes, making them easier to take care of with follow-up spells or party member assistance.
  • Spellblade: This is the Mage Specialization that wants to be close to its enemies, with the subclass combining strong melee attacks with vicious close-range lightning strikes. It’s great for single-target damage and has some defensive capabilities, but it’s quite challenging and will still require being on point with dodges.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard — Rogue class

Dragon Age: The Veilguard best class — Mage, Rogue, Warrior, Specializations, and which to choose
  • Races: Elf, Dwarf, Qunari, and Human
  • Armor: Medium
  • Weapon: Daggers, Bow
  • Verbs: Burst, Sustain, Control
  • Specializations: Duelist, Saboteur, Veil Ranger

The Rogue class is perfect for players who want to roleplay as a dexterous assassin or a skilled ranger, and is capable of some of the highest burst damage on individual targets in the entire game. Their Daggers and Bow gives them effective options both up close and at range, and while they’re not nearly as tanky as Warriors, their medium armor helps them survive hits that would likely kill lightly protected Mages. In many ways, Rogues are The Veilguard’s “jack of all trades” class, though their Specializations let you lean hard into a specific desired playstyle.

In the game, Rangers utilize a resource called Momentum that accumulates whenever you skillfully avoid incoming assaults. Building up Momentum is an active process, implying that even bow-focused Rogues may have to approach enemies more closely than Mages prefer, to dodge attacks and increase this resource. Fortunately, Rogues are both swift and agile, so if you’re patient and learn the timing of enemy attack patterns, it won’t be as risky as it might seem.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Rogue Specializations

Two of the Rogue’s Expertise Areas show great power, whereas one offers a distinctive, though not quite as powerful, experience. However, it should be noted that this unique option is by no means poor or ineffective. Let me summarize them for you:

  • Duelist: As the name implies, this subclass is perfect for players that like to take down targets individually, dealing tons of high melee damage while deftly avoiding attacks thrown your way. The Duelist may have some difficulty dealing with crowds, though, especially if they get cornered and don’t have a lot of room to work with.
  • Saboteur: This unique Specialization is more about crowd control than DPS, and is largely centered around littering the battlefield with traps that make foes easy to pick off with arrows. It’s not quite as powerful as the other two options, but it’s still totally viable and a good pick for folks that want something a little unconventional.
  • Veil Ranger: Essentially the ranged version of a Duelist, Veil Rangers snipe from afar for big critical hits, using special artifacts that imbue their arrows with potent magic. Though better than Duelists at thinning the horde as long as they’re a good distance away from the front line, they struggle significantly if they’re not able to put some distance between themselves and a major threat for an extended period of time.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard — Warrior class

Dragon Age: The Veilguard best class — Mage, Rogue, Warrior, Specializations, and which to choose
  • Races: Elf, Dwarf, Qunari, and Human
  • Armor: Heavy
  • Weapon: One-Handed Weapon and Shield, Two-Handed Weapon
  • Verbs: Weapons, Survival, Abilities
  • Specializations: Reaper, Slayer, Champion

In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Warriors function similarly to tanks. However, don’t underestimate their ability to inflict damage and cause distress. Warriors can deal significant damage, even though they might not match the potential of Mages or Rogues in this regard. The advantage is that their robust armor and shields make them extremely durable, making them an excellent pick for newcomers to action RPGs or those who prefer to absorb the majority of enemy attacks while other party members attack relentlessly.

Highlighting the Warrior’s function is its Rage resource, which accumulates as you both inflict and sustain damage. In essence, being in melee combat is crucial for this class to build up a substantial amount of Rage needed for its abilities and unique moves, given that it primarily deals light attacks from afar. To maximize its potential, consider equipping a Shield with a One-Handed Weapon for enhanced defensive capabilities, or opt for a Two-Handed Weapon if you prefer increased damage output and wider cleaves to manage hordes of enemies more effectively.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Warrior Specializations

The three Warrior Specializations all encourage you to brawl on the front line, though one of them is more defensive while the other two are geared more towards offensive playstyles. Here’s how each one works:

  • Reaper: This is basically the melee version of the Mage’s Death Caller subclass, as it’s completely DPS-focused and uses your health as fuel for your power, allowing you to drain the life of your enemies to sustain yourself and stay in the fight. Taking a lot of damage is riskier as a Reaper than it is with the other Specializations, however.
  • Slayer: Though still an offensive Specialization overall, Slayer is a bit more balanced than Reaper and emphasizes using colossal two-handed weapons to stagger and knock down your opponents.
  • Champion: The best subclass for a defensive tank playstyle. Allows you to block lots of incoming damage with your stalwart shield, then retaliate with quick melee strikes and powerful fire attacks.

How will you save Thedas?

Dragon Age: The Veilguard best class — Mage, Rogue, Warrior, Specializations, and which to choose

Each of the Mage, Rogue, and Warrior character classes offers unique advantages and disadvantages in combat, yet each is potent and reliable. While certain specializations might excel overall, the key factor is enjoying the class you choose most since you can’t alter this decision later on. Choosing a class that eventually leaves you feeling discontent because someone suggested it was superior to others would result in unnecessary frustration.

As a researcher, I personally have focused my main gameplay on a Warrior character due to my affinity for tank characters and frontline fighters in role-playing games and massively multiplayer online games. Nonetheless, if you prefer the stealthy approach of an assassin or mastering the mystical arts, I recommend choosing Rogue or Mage respectively.

The game “Dragon Age: Veilguard” can be purchased on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (via Steam, Epic Games Store, or EA app), and PlayStation 5. The price varies by platform, with PC users paying $59.99 and console users $69.99. You can also access it through an EA Play Pro subscription. This game is widely considered one of the top Xbox games and PC games of the year for RPG enthusiasts, marking the first new Dragon Age release in a decade. It’s often praised as one of the best games in the series to date.

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2024-10-31 19:10