The Best Early-Game Weapons For Warriors In Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Key Takeaways

• The Executioner’s Blade is an early-game purchase at the Antivan Crow Faction Vendor in Treviso, ideal for Shield-Bearer Rooks.
• The Dark Shard empowers Necrotic damage and spreads affliction, found in the Sea of Blood quest in the Ossuary.
• The Hard Way sword is easy to get and powerful, reducing enemy defense with each strike, allowing for extra damage at 0 defense.

Warriors in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are powerful vanguards and fighters that cleave their foes with brutal might, and for that to happen, they need the best weapons to make the most out of their abilities. During the earlier stages of the game, is not always possible to get the perfect weapon, but there are various early-game options for those playing a Warrior Rook.

Warriors use one-handed blades, picks, axes, and shields, and they can also carry a two-handed weapon like a Greataxe, a Warhammer, or a Polearm. This catalog showcases eight of the best weapons players can get during the early game, with information on how to find them, builds, and a full description of their perks.

8 Executioner’s Blade

The Standard One-Handed Sword

• Uncommon: +30% Charged attack damage
• Rare: +25% Stagger dealt by Charged attacks
• Epic: Charged attacks deal Critical damage vs. Overwhelmed enemies
• Legendary: Charged attacks deal bonus damage relative to the enemy’s Stagger

The Executioner’s Blade can be purchased for 600 gold at the Antivan Crow Faction Vendor, in Treviso. This blade is a standard sword and causes more damage with Charged attacks, which in turn cause severe damage to Overwhelmed (Stagger Bar Depleted) targets. The two first perks of this sword are easily obtainable at the earlier stages of the game since there are several copies of this Blade both in Minrathous and Treviso in early Quests.

This blade is ideal for those players looking to build a Shield-Bearer Rook, which is a solid choice for those looking to counter and generate more Takedowns. There are plenty of Perks in the Warrior Skill Tree that benefit from causing Stagger, and others that generate Health and Ultimate energy each time players execute a Takedown, so the Executioner’s Blade is meant to become a core item for these builds.

7 The Dark Shard

Good At Early-Game, Broken In Late Game

• Uncommon: +15% Necrotic Resistance
• Rare +15% Necrotic damage
• Epic: Critical hits apply Necrosis if not already applied
• Legendary: Whenever Necrosis is applied to a target, instead of an affliction deals 100 Necrotic damage in an area around them

This sword is ideal for those Warriors looking to invest in the Reaper build, which focuses on generating Necrotic Damage and spreading this affliction through the battlefield. The Dark Shards empowers Necrotic Damage and as it becomes more powerful, spreads it across other enemies each time Rook scores a Critical Hit. Since there are many abilities that guarantee a Critical Hit with a Shield Toss, this can become really powerful, since it would unleash a Necrotic blast on large groups of enemies.

The Dark Shard can be found in one of the first Companion Recruitment Quests, Sea Of Blood, in the Ossuary. After rescuing Lucanis Dellamorte, keep moving forward and reach the first plateau of the Upper Inner Cells. After defeating the Demons, look for a chest that contains the first copy of this sword. Subsequent copies are found throughout the adventure, and these will empower the Weapon’s stats and unlock more Traits.

6 The Hard Way

The Best One-Hand Weapon, Easy To Get

• Unique Perk 1: Permanently reduces the target’s Defense by 5 on hit
• Unique Perk 2: Enemies with 0 Defense are damaged for an additional 50% damage

Perhaps, the best weapon players can get early on. It is found in the same spot as The Point, in Treviso, so getting there once players finish the Sea of Blood Quest is quite easy. Each blow with this weapon will effectively reduce the Defense of enemies permanently, which means it doesn’t depend on a counter, or decay over time: It just drops and stays there. This means that if a High Dragon comes roaring in the face of whoever wields this blade, and has 150 armor, it can lose all its defenses by the time players finish their third 10-hit combo on them.

To make things even better, once enemies hit 0 Defense, they receive an additional 50% damage, calculated from the overall damage Rook causes with each hit. This is why this weapon is so powerful, and players shouldn’t underestimate it, since its base damage will also scale with their level, meaning they don’t need to invest resources to power it up.

5 Raider’s Cleaver

Pick An Axe, Make’em Bleed

• Uncommon:+15% damage vs. health
• Rare: Final attacks apply Bleeding if not already applied
• Epic:+10% Critical damage added for every Bleeding enemy near you
• Legendary: Your Critical damage bonus is also applied to all Bleeding damage

The Raider’s Cleaver is found in the second chest while completing In Entropy’s Graps, Bellara’s Introductory Quest. This one-handed axe is perfect for Warriors looking for a Bleed build, and as it grows in power so do its perks. The first perk causes extra damage to enemies who don’t have Armor or Barrier. The second Perk will apply Bleeding with each Final Attack, that is, the last attack of a singular combo chain.

Then the third perk is one of the most broken in the whole game, it adds an extra +10% of Critical Damage for every Bleeding enemy surrounding Rook. And finally, the Legendary perk makes Bleeding damage DoT benefit from the Critical Damage bonus, becoming even more brutal. Pair this weapon with the Bleeding Shard Ring to cause mayhem on the battlefield.

4 Crystalline Greataxe

Most Broken Two-Handed Weapon

• Uncommon: +15% Cold Resistance
• Rare: Necrotic bonus also affects this weapon’s base damage
• Epic: Charged attacks apply Chilled
• Legendary: When you apply Chilled, also apply Necrosis. Necrosis now deals Cold damage.

During the “Missing Relic Case” Quest, following Neve Gallus through the streets of Minrathous will have players visiting several Market stalls. Between them, there’s a Blacksmith shop well hidden, near the second spot where Neve Needs to Investigate a Vision. If players browse that shop, they will be able to purchase their first Crystalline Greataxe for 1050 Gold. And trust me on this, this is the best Investment they can make.

The axe is powerful and causes cold damage instead of physical damage, making Warriors freeze and shatter foes all around. But, as this weapon unlocks more perks, it also makes Chilled apply Necrosis and turns the Necrosis damage into Cold Damage, which is quite broken if players mix the Reaper with Mourn Watch Perks, with some Lords of Fortune Perks as well.

3 Fade-touched War Axe

A Reliable Option For Critical Hit Builds

• Uncommon: +15% damage vs. health
• Rare: Gain Precision on kills with this weapon
• Epic: +50% damage vs. enemies with Low Health while Precision is active
• Legendary: While Precision is active, Critical attacks vs. enemies with Low Health are lethal

A powerful and reliable two-handed weapon, easily obtained while going through “In Entropy’s Grasp” Quest. Another of these weapons is sold by the Veil Jumper Faction vendor, and players can upgrade the one they find during Bellara’s Recruitment Quest quite early on.

As this Axe becomes more powerful by unlocking its perks, it activates the Precision combat advantage each time Rook kills a foe with the weapon. Precision makes the next attack a guaranteed critical, so players can use this buff endlessly during combat, going from one foe to the next, crushing them with ease.

2 Sentinel’s Glory

Great For Perfect Counter Builds

• Uncommon: +15% Physical Resistance
• Rare: Deal 250 Stagger to your target on Perfect Defense
• Epic: Deal 250 Stagger around you on Perfect Defense
• Legendary: Staggering an enemy nullifies their Defense for the duration

The Warrior can specialize in wielding a shield and doing Perfect Counters, that is, blocking at the very last moment and causing Staggering, then attacking immediately to unleash a powerful combo that causes extra damage. The Sentinel’s Glory is specifically designed for those players who want to counter everything to beat the game.

The Shield can be found early on, during the Spirits of the Dalish quest, and a second and third upgrade quite early as they progress through Act 2, so there’s no need to spend the whole game looking for additional copies. Once players unlock the third perk, it’s all about blocking at the right time and unleashing powerful counters and Takedowns. The ideal shield for Tanks.

1 Skirmisher’s Round

For Those Who Want A Shield-Toss Build

• Uncommon: +15% Ranged attack damage
• Rare: +15% Weakpoint damage
• Epic: +20% Stagger on Weakpoint hits
• Legendary: Shield Toss damage increases with each bounce

For those players who want to create the perfect Shield-Toss build this shield specializes in improving the Warriors’ ranged damage with this ability. Not only offer extra Ranged Damage but more Weakpoint Damage and extra stagger each time players throw a shield at enemies.

This shield can be found in the Ruins during the “In Entropy’s Grasp” Quest, and then another copy can be bought from the Veil Jumper’s in Arlathan’s Camp. A third and fourth copy can be found as players progress Bellara’s Companion Quests, and a final copy during the Blood of Arlathan Main Quest.