Dragon Age: The Veilguard Deep Dive Breaks Down Skill Trees, Item Enchantment, and More
EA detailed the game’s Skill Tree progression systems and other ways Rook and their companions can become stronger.
Posted 3 months ago
In a recent gameplay deep dive, EA provided interesting new details about the character progression systems in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which hits consoles and PC on October 31, 2024. (In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, players will become Rook, a customizable hero who must recruit a band of companions to defeat the Elven gods that were released after Solas’ ritual was interrupted.)
As players complete quests, defeat enemies, and explore the world of Thedas, their version of Rook will earn experience points, level up, and receive Skill Points. These points can be assigned to Rook’s Skill Tree, which will feature five different kinds of unlockable “nodes” related to different traits, stat boosts, core skills, abilities, and more.
According to EA, “Node selections are designed to harmonize into cohesive builds. This ensures that Rook’s strength is always growing as the playstyle is being refined.”
To help players achieve their desired character build, the game will allow skill points to be refunded either individually or all at once at any time without a resource cost.
EA also provided details about Class Specialization Areas:
“Each Class will also have access to three Specialization Areas, outlined in our Combat blog. Rook can gain powerful Abilities tuned to the theme of that Specialization, after unlocking it. While the Specialization Areas are themed by Faction, they are not restricted to a Rook of that Faction. For example, a Grey Warden Rook can still take the Veil Ranger Specialization if they are a Rogue.”
Rook’s companions will also level up over time as players complete their personal quests, have conversations, and make decisions with them. Each new level will grant a companion two Skill Points that can be spent on their personal Skill Trees.
Rook will be able to take two companions into missions. When making their selections, players will have more to think about than simply the characters they like the most, as each companion will have “Primer and Detonator abilities that can combine with each other or Rook in combat.” As these abilities are used in the correct combinations, Rook’s team will deal an attack with increased damage and increased stagger on the battlefield.
As players explore Thedas, they’ll come across a wide variety of weapons, armor, and accessory items for both Rook and their companions, with each item having unique properties and stats. This will include finding duplicate items, which will “empower [weapons and armor] to increase [their] stats and unlock additional properties.”
By visiting the Caretaker’s Workshop, players will be able to upgrade and enchant their items to make them more powerful. While they’ll only have access to “basic” enchantments to start, they’ll be able to upgrade the Caretaker’s Workshop to unlock new and better enchantments over time. EA said: “Each item or Ability can have a single enchantment applied to it, and each enchantment can only be used on a single item or Ability at a time.”
©EA
Players will have plenty of freedom when it comes to the appearance of Rook's casual dress and visible armor, as well. EA provided more details:
“Rook will be aligned with a Faction of the player’s choosing from the beginning of the game. The chosen Faction will influence the initial appearance of Rook, particularly when dressed in casual wear. However, don’t worry about getting locked into any specific style since any visible armor can be ‘transmogrify-ed’ to resemble another that has been collected, via the Wardrobe in the Lighthouse. There will also be appearance-only armors, such as the Blood Dragon Armor for pre-orders, and casual outfits. You can find these at some merchants and found by exploring over time. This gives the player the ability to tailor Rook’s appearance independent of tantalizing stat boosts and upgrades.”
Head over to EA’s website to read even more about the character and item progression systems in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.