Following the Summer Game Fest gameplay reveal, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is featured on Game Informer as the cover game for this month. Between the digital edition and the first article published on the website, there’s plenty of new info and statements from the developers. For this story, we’ll focus on combat.
To start with, every swing is done in real-time, and BioWare said that special care has been put into aspects like animation swing-through and canceling. As befitting an action combat system, each class (Mage, Warrior, and Rogue) has access to light and heavy attacks. There are, however, differences in secondary attacks and defense moves. The Warrior can block, parry, and throw their shield around (if they chose the Champion specialization) Captain America-style. The Rogue can parry, too, and enjoys a wider window to perform this action; they also have access to a bow for ranged attacks. The Mage cannot parry, but they can throw up a shield that negates incoming damage for as long as they have mana. They also have access to magical ranged attacks aside from proper spells. For instance, they could put three stacks of arcane magic on a foe that is then triggered into an ‘arcane bomb’ with a heavy attack.
All classes can also switch between two weapon loadouts in the middle of combat. For example, a mage could charge their staff’s heavy attack, then switch (with the controller’s d-pad down button when using a gamepad) to magical daggers for a series of light attacks, and then move back to the staff for another heavy attack. Dashing and dodging are also available moves, as seen in the gameplay, and healing through potions is assigned to the d-pad’s right button by default.
Companions can also be specialized to perform healing. Leveling up your relationship meter provides a new skill point to spend in their unique trees. Companions can unlock up to five active abilities, although only three can be equipped for combat at once.
The most strategic players will be able to pause the action and order them around to unleash devasting combos through the ability wheel. However, BioWare said companions are perfectly capable of performing skills and attacks on their own, and they will get more competent over time throughout Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Interestingly, combos can be ‘bookmarked’ with a quick dash, allowing players to get out of trouble and resume the combo afterward.
The Game Informer article also provides a first look at the player character’s skill trees, which are much bigger than the companions’. Here, players can unlock passive abilities that add jump attacks and/or guaranteed critical hits under certain circumstances. Of course, there are also plenty of active abilities, such as the Warrior’s Spartan Kick and the Mage’s Wall of Fire. Each specialization also has its own Ultimate ability. Overall, the philosophy for the skill trees in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is to allow completely different play styles rather than merely improving statistics.
Game Director Corinne Busche said of the combat system:
I think the first thing to keep in mind is that combat in the franchise has been an evolution. Every single entry reimagines what combat is like and I would say our goal was to make sure we had a system that allowed players to feel like they actually were able to step into the world of Thedas. They’re not a player observing from afar – they are inside of this world. Being this authentic world that’s brought to life, the combat system needs to support that, so you are in control of every single action, every block, every dodge, every swing of your sword.
Mark Darrah, who worked on all three previous Dragon Age installments before leaving BioWare in late 2020 and returning last year as a consultant on this new game, had this to say about Dragon Age: The Veilguard:
What I see in Veilguard is a game that finally bridges the gap. Uncharitably, previous Dragon Age games got to the realm of ‘combat wasn’t too bad.’ In this game, the combat’s actually fun, but it does keep that thread that’s always been there. You have the focus on Rook, on your character, but still have that control and character coming into the combat experience from the other people in your party.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is currently slated for a Fall 2024 launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X.
