The Best Early-Game Mage Armor In Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Key Takeaways

• Battle Robes are great for Mages early on, offering resistance against Venatori enemies.
• Forest Guardian’s Veil is a useful helm empowering staff attacks and critical hits against barriers.
• Dalish Wraps and Jumper’s Deft Leathers provide valuable perks for Mana Regen and defense.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has a lot of loot for players to choose from, but they need to be aware that for certain classes, like the Mage, armor is as important as accessories or weapons. In this list, we will cover the best Early-Game armor for Mages.

With an RNG loot system, it is not always possible to obtain the best armor, but some of these are sold by Faction Sellers. With that said, let’s take a look at the best armor pieces players can get access to from an early stage of their latest adventure in Thedas, alongside their perks, and the approximate location of randomly generated gear.

5 Battle Robes (Light Armor)

Great Advantage Versus Venatori, Scales With Shadow Dragon Faction

• Uncommon Perk: +25% Resistance vs. Venatori Enemies
• Rare Perk: +20 Defense Relative to Shadow Dragons Allied Strength
• Epic Perk: Immune to Afflictions applied by your Faction-sworn enemies
• Legendary Perk: Gain Rally Party vs. Mercenaries and Dragons

The Battle Robes are a piece of Light Armor that players can find earlier during the adventure, after completing the Dock Town Quest with Neve Gallus. Players can purchase it from the Shadow Dragons Faction Shop for 350 Gold, and it comes with the Uncommon Perk unlocked.

Throughout the adventure, players will find more drops of the same item to upgrade it until it reaches Legendary Rank, but this is a great piece to start with. It’s particularly useful since it offers a lot of resistance against Venatori enemies, which are the most prolific enemies in the whole game, and a menace for all squishy mages.

4 Forest Guardian’s Veil (Medium Helm)

Great Medium Helm For Every Purpose, Powers Up Ranged Staff Attacks

• Uncommon Perk: +15% Weakpoint Damage
• Rare Perk: +25% Damage vs. Barrier
• Epic Perk: +10 Weakpoint Damage relative to Veil Jumper Faction Strength
• Legendary Perk: Weakpoint Hits on enemies with Barrier are Critical

The Forest Guardian’s Veil can be acquired early in the adventure, during the Arlathan Forest first quest after recruiting Bellara and breaching the first barrier, defeating the Darkspawn in the process. Turn to the small ruins with the portcullis and there will be a chest there with this Medium Helm.

It will not have its first Perk active, but players can later acquire it from the Veil Jumper’s shop by purchasing a duplicate of this item. The extra weakpoint damage is great for Staff users who rely on their weapon’s charge attack. As this helm is improved and unlocks other perks, it will cause even more weak point damage depending on the player’s Faction Strength with the Veil Jumpers, and also more damage to barrier enemies.

3 Dalish Wraps (Light Armor)

A Great Choice For Light Armor Mages

• Uncommon Perk: +20% Mana Regeneration
• Rare Perk: -20% Blocking Mana Cost
• Epic Perk: -20% Ranged Mana Cost
• Legendary Perk: Gain Immovable when mana goes above 150 (60 second Cooldown)

The Dalish Wraps are Light Armor that’s purchasable from the Veil Jumpers shop in Arlathan for 350 gold. It provides a +20% to Mana Regeneration right from the start, since it will be an Uncommon piece of gear. This is ideal for every mage, since Mana Regeneration is hard to come by in the game and is essentially what keeps the skill rotation going during combat.

It also empowers Ranged attacks with the Staff and Orbs, so when this piece of Light Armor evolves into an Epic version, it will significantly reduce the cost of those attacks. The Legendary Perk provides a powerful combat advantage that allows players to forget about crowd control and cast their spells with absolute freedom.

2 Jumper’s Deft Leathers (Light Armor)

Power Ups, Mana Regen, And Maximum Mana

• Uncommon Perk: +50 Maximum Mana
• Rare Perk: +15% Mana Generation
• Epic Perk: Gain 20% of Maximum Mana Value as Defense
• Legendary Perk: After using an Ability with Mana cost, gain 20% of the Mana cost as Ability Damage for 6 seconds

The Jumper’s Deft Leathers can be randomly obtained by opening chests throughout the Arlathan Forest and Crossroads maps, and provides several great perks for Mages. The first one increases Maximum Mana by 50, while the second provides Mana Generation, which, contrary to Mana Regeneration, provides extra Mana every time the Mage attacks.

The third perk provides defense based on the maximum Mana, which is great for mitigating damage, and we know Mages are extra squishy, and they desperately need some way to become more resistant. Its last perk will be unlocked once the armor reaches Legendary Rank; it is a damage buff activated each time the player casts a Spell, which grants a percentage of the Mana used as Ability Damage.

1 Time Tested Trappings (Medium Armor)

Great For Combo Attacks, Recovers Mana And Ultimate

• Uncommon Perk: +25% Primer Duration
• Rare Perk: +10% Primer Effectiveness
• Epic Perk: Hits against Primed Enemies generate 1% Ultimate and 2 Mana
• Legendary Perk: Gain 10% Health when generating a Primer

This Medium Armor can be randomly dropped from Chests all around Arlathan Forest and The Crossroads. It enhances ability combos with companions by increasing the window of opportunity after an ally performs a combination attack to take advantage of Primers.

Primers are an important mechanic for mages, since most enemies have a lot of elemental resistance, and the mage’s whole kit is centered around causing damage according to the four elements (Cold, Fire, Electric, and Necrotic). When an enemy is weakened and sundered, it will be Primed for Detonations, and most spells can take advantage of the Primed state to cause even more damage. Rook can also generate Primers using certain skills, and the Control Mage/Evoker Skill section specializes in doing so. The Time Tested Trappings play right into this specialization.