As promised on the roadmap to launch, BioWare has just revealed a new blog post that included a series of attached gameplay videos showing off the combat system of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
The footage is grabbed from the point of view of a Warrior player character who chose the Champion specialization, which is designed around defense and fire damage (which is great against Darkspawn, who are vulnerable to fire). As previously outlined by the studio, players will have to pick three abilities plus an Ultimate attack, the latter of which depends on the class specialization, to bring into battle. In this case, the player chose Driving Kick, Grappling Spear, Spectral Bulwark, and Warden’s Fire.
We also get a first look at Runes, which complement active abilities. The three Runes picked in this case were Mend, which consumes all Rage to heal Rook when activated; Crystallize, which freezes all enemies in a radius of 10 meters around the player character; and Diminish, which weakens all enemies within 6 meters. Another Rune highlighted in the video is Scorch, which changes all weapon attacks to deal Fire damage for 20 seconds. Overall, Runes provide additional control, utility, and damage boost.
This Rook also uses full Heavy Armor, which gives them access to the related Mastery that boosts defense by 20% and reduces the chance of being disrupted upon receiving a hit. Another major passive in the skill tree is Fiery Resolve, granting Flaming Weapons upon successfully parrying an attack. The video then switches to the equipment section, showing gear that improves Stagger, leading to easier takedowns. The Stagger meter is shown as a lavender bar, whereas the Armor Barrier is a yellow bar, and it is reduced most easily with heavy melee attacks. On the other hand, ranged attacks remove the Shield Barrier (colored in blue).
Of course, Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be played best when synergizing strategies with Rook’s companions. For example, in the mission shown in the video, Lucanis’ Adrenaline Rush boosts Rook’s damage, whereas Davrin’s Heroic Strike applies the Overwhelmed debuff, increasing the Stagger taken by the target. Companions can also help with crowd control, as shown with Lucanis’ Abominate, an ability that knocks down foes in the target area. Arguably, their greater use is with combos, though. After asking Davrin to taunt nearby foes and pulling a far one with Grappling Spear, Rook enables the Crystallize rune to freeze them, opening them up for Lucanis’ Eviscerate combo detonation.
All this rests on top of the combat basics: jump, light attack, heavy attack, and dodge, the latter of which is available even in the middle of an attack. Both light attacks and heavy attacks can be charged down to hit enemies harder, and some attacks are triggered contextually upon jumping or sprinting at an enemy. Each class has ranged attacks (the Warrior Champion has shield throw, Captain America style), blocks and/or parries, and two distinct weapon sets to swap during fights.
For even more about Dragon Age: The Veilguard, check our roundup article. On another note, at Gamescom, we got confirmation that ray tracing would be available on consoles, too.
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