The promotions for the newest addition to the Dragon Age franchise, The Veilguard, have ramped up in recent weeks. From the gameplay footage released in June and the date reveal trailer released just weeks ago to the numerous articles, interviews, and blog posts doled out in between, the wealth of information pouring out of BioWare has been a pure avalanche of interesting tidbits. But, out of everything the fans have learned, one of the biggest questions has been: “What’s the combat like?”
And now we know. Releasing on the 24th of August, the BioWare and Dragon Age teams gave players an in-depth look into what advanced gameplay will look like for their Warrior class at level 30. Including skill trees, runes, traits, combat abilities, gear, and much more. By highlighting a section of the new game’s narrative, where Ghilan’nain; one of the blighted Elven gods’ players will be up against; is attacking the Warden fortress in Weisshaupt with her Archdemon -giving fans a little more insight into the narrative of the game and how the story will be playing out.
General Combat
Following the industry’s standards for combat basics, Veilguard includes the typical variety of moves found in most RPGs: jump, blocks/parry, dodges, light, and heavy attacks. Each, with its own, game-specific, flourishes that stay true to the spirit of the franchise’s legacy. While the mechanics seem rudimentary on their faces, the details about how each combat component works in real-time give players a hint of how fluid it will feel.
Dodges are fluid and will not be constrained by attack animations. Players can dodge out of the way of an oncoming ranged attack mid-combo, without being forced to finish the animation first. It is all about timing, as is blocking. So long as you have the right equipment and, for players who have difficulties “timing” them, you can even adjust the settings to make it easier.
Light and heavy attacks follow along the same vein as typical hack-and-slash game mechanics. Light attacks are quick, furiously timed strikes meant to wheedle down your opponent’s health as fast as possible; while heavy attacks are slower but hit much harder with a single strike. In both instances, attacks will continuously generate a condition called stagger, and once fully triggered players can unleash powerful combos to drop the enemy quickly.
Abilities and Runes
A cornerstone of Dragon Age games has always been the variety of skills, abilities, and equipment available for players to utilize in combat. And Veilguard continues that well-established tenet of choices in spades. Abilities were especially prevalent in Dragon Age’s presentation for the high-level gameplay. Giving, players a vast selection of examples, along with actual in-game footage of their damage, conditions applied, and combo opportunities.
A warrior with the Warden faction background, and the Champion specialization, has access to abilities, such as the standard passives like Heavy Armor Mastery, that other classes and factions may not. As usual, warriors can be your typical sword-and-board or dual wielder, but that is where the simplicities end. Runes offer a wide range of actions, abilities, buffs, and conditions to supplement your load out; making your Rook’s build every bit as important as your narrative choices in the game.
Builds can be fine-tuned to optimize damage towards specific enemies, allowing the player infinite choices for their Rook. Darkspawn, for example, are weak to fire damage; and are a huge component in the narrative; so, a Champion Warden build that incorporates the element of fire will be more effective in combat and have a higher DPS than one that does not.
Crowd Control and Combos
No combat is complete without a way to control the tide of battle. Debuffs, crowd control, and synergistic combo strategies, which can be utilized often, can make or break even some of the most seemingly innocuous encounters. Your character being outnumbered, outgunned, and overwhelmed, always tends to increase the excitement players experience when playing an RPG. But without a way to win the day, with good core mechanics built in, it can quickly turn the earnest enjoyment of a property into a disastrous disinterest.
For crowd control, in particular, BioWare and the Dragon Age team made practical applications of the strategy front and center: Giving fans a close look into the Taunt + Crystalize + Eviscerate combo. Wherein the Warden Davrin taunts the enemies; gathering them together; Champion Rook casts Crystalize and freezes them all in place, and Lucanis detonates all the frozen enemies for massive damage.
Combos also included inflicted status effects; like weakened, overwhelmed, and burning; that boost companion abilities even further. Playing off of and synergizing Rook’s setups with the companions’ follow-throughs, and vice versa, to burn down enemy hit points as fast as possible. While slowly building up their ultimate meter, to prep for many stunning and devastating finishers that are a sight to see.
Extras
A few more tidbits of information included in this week’s rollout have to do with several aspects of the ins and outs of the technical side of combat. Including things like: each class will have two weapon sets, both melee and ranged; specialization and skill points can be refunded for re-specking at any time in the game; combos and synergies between characters are highlighted for the player situationally; and explanations on what the various colored bars over an enemy’s head mean. Red for health, blue for spell shield, yellow for armor, and purple/lavender for stagger.
For PC players, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is currently available for digital pre-order on Steam, the EA App, or the Epic Games store. For PS5 and Xbox X/S players, preorders can be purchased at local gaming stores; such as GameStop or BestBuy; or online at marketplaces like Amazon and Target. Veilguard is rated M (for mature) and will be released officially on October 31rst 2024.
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