All Dragon Age The Veilguard skills
What are the best Dragon Age The Veilguard skills? Half the fun of Bioware RPGs is taking a ragtag band of nobodies and watching them transform into legendary heroes. DA:V continues that tradition with Rook, our fresh-faced protagonist and unlikely leader of the titular Veilguard. Once you’ve determined Rook’s lineage and class, unlocking skills is the next port of call.
Skills are the backbone of your build in Dragon Age 4, so getting to grips with how the skill tree works and what specializations can offer is essential. Like most RPG games, Rook and their Dragon Age Veilguard companions gain skill points every time they level up, and the skills you choose will determine how powerful they will be once they reach the Dragon Age Veilguard max level cap. Here are the best skills to choose first.
Best Dragon Age Veilguard skills
The best skills in Dragon Age Veilguard can vary depending on the class specialization you choose, though several skills offer universal benefit to any variation of warrior, rogue, or mage.
The best skills to pick first include resource generation bonuses and buffs to status effects like stagger. We’ve also included abilities that are essential to your class characteristics, giving you a solid foundation to spend your excess skill points however you please. If you need further instruction, our breakdown of the best Dragon Age Veilguard builds should be your next port of call.
Best warrior skills
- Core: Counterblow, Rancor, Shield Volley, Tumbling Blades.
- Survival: Depth of Fury, Enraged, Explosive Toss, Groundbreaker, Killer Instinct, Return to Sender.
- Abilities: Blunt Force, Deadly Ground, Depth of Fury, Enduring Rage, Enraged, Explosive Toss, Explosive Toss, Killer Instinct, Seething Pitch, Spectral Bulwark.
- Weapons: Cleaving Strike, Fury of the Forge, Guardian’s Reprieve, Incite Violence, Velocity.
Best rogue skills
- Core: Endure, Evasive Maneuvers, Exploding Arrow, Riposte, Downfall.
- Burst: Burst of Speed, Decisive Finish, Explosive Daggers, Hurricane of Blades, Momentous Occasion, Traumatize.
- Control: Burst of Speed, Close Quarters Combat. Pounce, Keen Eye, Killer Instinct, Reeling Bolt, Salvaged Arrows, Traumatize, Rain of Decay.
- Sustain: Determination, Lightning Flask, Pilfer, Swift Rebuke, Tipped Arrowheads, Unending Quiver, Leaping Shot.
Best mage skills
- Core: Charging Spirit, Faded Strike, Mind Blast, Mortal Concentration, Quick Recovery.
- Burst: Chain Lightning, Elemental Catalyst, Killer Instinct, Nexus Shock, Perfect Cast, Reclamation, Tempest, Fade Conduit.
Sustain: Bombastic, Inner Focus, Meteor, Prolong, Velocity, Wall of Fire. - Control: Absorb, Bulwark, Fade Reflex, Frost Shield, Frostbite, Ice Blast, Meditation, Frost Nova.
All Dragon Age The Veilguard skills
Skills are split into five types that range from class-defining abilities to more incremental buffs and modifiers. Regardless of your Dragon Age Veilguard class, the best skills to unlock will consist of five core abilities and one ultimate alongside minor skills that empower them.
The DA:V skill types are:
- Traits – Skill modifiers and bonus combos
- Passives – Persistent stat buffs
- Abilities – Actions available to use during combat
- Ultimates – Explosive finishers to turn the tide of battle
The skill trees in Dragon Age The Veilguard are more free-form than their counterparts in Origins and Inquisition. Rather than following a set path, you’ll build out the branches of the skill tree in whichever direction you choose.
All Warrior skills
Here are all the Dragon Age Veilguard Warrior skills:
| Skill | Type | Description |
| Bloody Advance | Ability | Applies Sundered. Throw a fan of blades that seek out and impale nearby enemies. Applies Bleeding on hit. While enemies are still impaled, a charged Shield Toss will cause a burst of damage to nearby enemies. |
| Cleaving Strike | Ability | A large, sweeping strike pushes a damaging wave over the battlefield. Damage dealt increases with distance from the target. Applies Bleeding on hit. |
| Counterblow | Trait | Deflect your enemy’s attack and perform a powerful counterattack. |
| Deadly Ground | Ability | Create a Necrotic field at your current location. Enemies caught inside the field take contact damage until they escape. Grants enhanced damage while you are inside the field. |
| Driving Kick | Ability | Focus all your strength and determination into one mighty kick. Applies Weakened and deals a very high amount of stagger with a high chance to disrupt. |
| Fury of the Forge | Ability | Burning steel blades rain down on your enemies. Applies Burning on impact. |
| Grappling Spear | Ability | Applies Overwhelmed. Harpoon your targets with a strong throw and drag them in for a closer encounter. Perform an optional follow-up attack to deal Physical damage with a high chance to disrupt. |
| Groundbreaker | Ability | Shake and shatter the ground with your weapon, spreading cracks that explode after a short delay. Applies Weakened. |
| Special Bulwark | Ability | Hone your guard and protect yourself from enemies foolish enough to attack. Enemies who hit you with a melee attack take damage and very high stagger. Increases Defense by 50% while active. |
| Titan Stomp | Ability | Create a shockwave around you by slamming into the ground. Applies Overwhelmed and deals very high stagger to nearby enemies. |
| Whirlwind | Ability | Unleash a whirlwind of steel that damages everything it hits and ends with a final massive blow. The final hit deals increased damage and stagger, with a high chance to disrupt. |
| Focused Retaliation | Passive | Gain Precision after a successful Perfect Defense. |
| Powerful Rebuttal (Core) |
Passive | Gain Precision after a successful Defend. |
| Rancor | Passive | Rage takes 50% longer to begin to decay. |
| Tumbling Blades | Trait | Use your speed to unleash a powerful attack immediately after performing a combat roll. |
| Volley Shield | Trait | Performing a Shield Toss volleys the shield back at enemies up to three times, dealing damage each time. |
| Flashing Fists | Ultimate | Battle your enemies with repeated, powerful blows. Deals damage to a large area four times. |
All Mage skills
Here are all the Dragon Age Veilguard Mage skills:
| Skill | Type | Description |
| Arcane Shot | Ability | Conjure fiery arcane bolts that rip into your enemies. Launches five projectiles toward your target and any enemies unlucky enough to be nearby. Applies Burning. |
| Corrupted Ground | Ability | Weave the threads of life and death, corrupting an area of the battlefield. Enemies caught inside succumb to its death. Applies Weakened. |
| Dark Squall | Ability | Harness elemental chaos, projecting a burst of entropic energy to knock your targets back. Detonates Sundered. |
| Frost Nova | Ability | Freeze your enemies to the bone if they get too close. A wide area around you is frozen. |
| Ice Blast | Ability | Hurl shards of ice, impaling enemies caught in the way. Applies Weakened. |
| Meteor | Ability | Call down an elemental meteor that crushes and burns enemies in its way. Detonates Sundered. |
| Storm Surge | Ability | Leap backward, stirring up a storm of elemental energy in your wake. Applies Overwhelmed. |
| Tempest | Ability | Weave a powerful thunderstorm around you. Lightning strikes a random enemy within eight meters of the casting zone every two seconds. Deals Electric damage to all enemies caught by the blast, rendering them Shocked. |
| Wall of Fire | Ability | Summon a flaming barrier, burning enemies foolish enough to cross it. Enemies incur damage and Burning each second they remain inside the wall. |
| Charging Spirit | Passive | Staff energy generates passively when you are not in combat. |
| Quick Recovery | Passive | Mana regeneration restarts 25% faster when paused by spending mana or taking damage. |
| Fade Strike | Trait | Use your speed to unleash a powerful attack with any weapon after using Fade Step. Also unlocks an additional follow-up attack while sprinting. |
| Mind Blast | Trait | While defending, consume 50 Mana to unleash a shockwave six meters in all directions. Deals damage based on your equipped staff. |
| Mortal Concentration | Trait | Sustaining your ranged attack gradually increases its damage output the longer it is active, to a maximum of three seconds. |
| Destructive Light | Ultimate | Summon a concentrated beam of primal elemental energy. Deals damage each second to all enemies caught in the beam. Applies Burning. |
All Rogue skills
Here are all the Dragon Age Veilguard Rogue skills:
| Skill | Type | Description |
| Explosive Daggers | Ability | Unleash a barrage of sticky, explosive daggers. Applies Sundered. |
| Explosive Trap | Ability | Repurpose Antaam explosives for your own use. Detonates Overwhelmed. |
| Hurricane of Blades | Ability | Spin around in a ring of rapid strikes. Nearby enemies are hit up to four times. The final strike deals more damage. |
| Lightning Flask (Sustain) |
Ability | Deals damage in a large area upon impact, while creating an aura that deals electric damage and applies Shocked to nearby enemies. |
| Lightning Quiver | Ability | Unleash a storm of electric bolts that spread across the battlefield, peppering random enemies. Fires up to seven bolts that randomly hit enemies. |
| Pilfer (Sustain) |
Ability | Detonates Overwhelmed. Add insult to injury by swiping a potion when you slice up an enemy. |
| Rain of Decay | Ability | Rain death from above. Damage is inflicted each second to all enemies caught in the area of this attack. |
| Reeling Bolt | Ability | Nock your bow with a special arrow that shocks and disorients enemies. Applies Weakened. |
| Static Strikes (Core) |
Ability | Unleash twin bolts of lightning from your blades, shocking all enemies they strike. Applies Weakened. |
| Toxic Dash | Ability | Dash toward your target to land a deadly blow. Applies Sundered. |
| Controlled Providence (Sustain) |
Passive | Each active advantage increases your control ability damage by 10%. |
| Downfall (Core) |
Passive | Jump attacks guarantee critical hits if the target is knocked down. |
| Endure (Core) |
Passive | Lose 35% less Momentum when you take damage. |
| Improved Health (Sustain) |
Passive | +100 Health |
| Necessary Steps (Sustain) |
Passive | +20% primer duration. |
| Perseverance (Sustain) |
Passive | While at low health, gain deflect whenever you perform a perfect dodge or perfect defense. |
| Powerful Rebuttal (Core) |
Passive | Gain Precision after a successful defend. |
| Providence (Sustain) |
Passive | Advantage duration: +20% |
| Rolling Momentum (Sustain) |
Passive | Gain 25 Momentum whenever you activate a tool ability. |
| Shattering Control (Sustain) |
Passive | Control abilities deal 75% more damage to armor. |
| Swift Rebuke (Sustain) |
Passive | Gain Momentum when you perform a perfect Dodge or perfect defense. |
| Decisive Finale | Trait | Unleash a decisive heavy final attack after a light attack chain. |
| Evasive Maneuvers (Core) |
Trait | Use your speed to launch a powerful attack from an extended dodge. Also applies recovering from being knocked down. |
| Exploding Arrow (Core) |
Trait | Simultaneously performing a light and ranged attack attaches a sticky arrow to a target in range. The arrow explodes after a short delay. |
| Leaping Shot (Sustain) |
Trait | Leap backward and fire an exploding arrow into the ground. Deals damage over a small area around the point of impact. |
| Riposte (Core) |
Trait | After a successful defend, you can now launch a powerful counterattack. |
| Concussive Barrage (Core) |
Ultimate | Fire a barrage of concussive bombs that deal increased Stagger. The duration of any staggered condition from this ability is increased by 200%. |
Skill specializations
Specializations are extensions of the core skill tree which contain unique abilities to tune your class to a particular playstyle. Each specialization aligns with the theme of a particular Dragon Age Veilguard faction, but this is purely for fantasy game flavor – you’re not required to align with the faction of your specialization to unlock it.
Skill specializations automatically unlock once your character reaches level 20. While the specialization node itself can be unlocked at no cost, you still need to expend the skill points necessary to reach its position on the skill tree. You can only have one specialization active at a time, so choose wisely.
Here are all the Dragon Age The Veilguard skill specializations:
Warrior
| Specialization | Description | Faction |
| Champion | Sword-and-board defensive tank | Grey Wardens |
| Reaper | Lifesteal, high-risk but high-reward | Mourn Watch |
| Slayer | Two-handed berzerker | Lords of Fortune |
Mage
| Specialization | Description | Faction |
| Death Caller | Necromancer | Mourn Watch |
| Evoker | Elemental spellcaster | Shadow Dragons |
| Spellblade | Magic-enhanced melee | Ativan Crows |
Rogue
| Specialization | Description | Faction |
| Duelist | Dual-wielding, parry and dodge melee | Antivan Crows |
| Saboteur | Explosive traps and turrets | Lords of Fortune |
| Veil Ranger | Long-range archer | Veil Jumpers |
How to upgrade skills
Choosing the best skills is only the first step for a powerful party in Dragon Age The Veilguard. To take them from strength to strength, you can upgrade their abilities with enchantments available at the Caretaker’s Workshop. These enchantments act as bonus passives specific to that ability, offering percentage buffs to its damage, stagger effect, and more.
However, upgrading skills comes with a few caveats. Only one enchantment can be active per ability, and enchantments can’t be shared between them. Additionally, while enchanting your skills doesn’t cost anything to unlock, the number of enchantments at your disposal depends upon the Workshop’s rank.
Now that you’re ready to choose the best skills for your party, check out the Dragon Age The Veilguard voice actors that bring Rook and pals to life. We’ve also got early details concerning companion progression and difficulty settings to share, alongside some of the best story games to get stuck into after your latest trip to Thedas.