Dragon Age: The Veilguard is out and seems to be EA and Bioware’s finest release to date, if the scores and Steam numbers are anything to go by. In any case, expect to spend 30+ hours or more with the game and its combat.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s combat and class design has done a lot to cut down on the three classes’ differences: the Warrior, the Rogue, and the Mage. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as once you pick a class, you’ll be stuck with it from start to finish. Each of the classes have their Area of Effect attacks, their close-ranged and long-ranged options, and survivability/sustain options.

Here’s a primer on each Class and which one’s the best to play and get good with. Do note that Class Specialization only unlocks when you’re at level 20.

Warrior

The Warrior excels at survival and stagger. In terms of exploiting elements, they have access to Fire and Necrotic damage. If you prefer a tanky playstyle and prefers fights up-close, the Warrior is the best class to play at the start. The best build adds damage to the Warrior’s defenses, meaning we should go for the Reaper specialization when you’re able to. Skills like Titan Stomp, Whirlwind, and Reaper can help do AoE attacks, overwhelm enemies, and also have detonating potential (ie: burst damage and debuffs when comboing it with other party member’s special skills).

Best Warrior Build

• Specialization: Reaper (unlocks at level 20)
• Faction: Grey Wardens, Veil Jumpers
• Key abilities: Titan Stomp, Whirlwind, Reaper
• Ultimate ability: Spirit Storm
• Key traits/passives: Masochism, Enduring Rage, Seething Pitch

Best Companions: Harding, Bellara. One Mage + One Rogue to complement the Warrior’s tanking skills.

Mage

The Mage excels at destroying and casting debuffs from afar. The Mage can also excel at AoE damage and summon a bunch of pyrotechnics on the screen. If you prefer fighting from afar while your Veilguard pals do all the melee work, the Mage is a good pick.

Having said that, the Spellblade specialization lets you do damage up-close if you feel like it. This build lets you deal massive elemental damage with Chain Lightning, Storm Surge, and Void Blade.

Best Mage Build

• Specialization: Spellblade (unlocks at level 20)
• Faction: Antivian Crows or Shadow Dragons
• Key abilities: Chain Lightning, Storm Surge, Void Blade
• Ultimate ability: Thunderous End
• Key traits/passives: Nexus Shock, Shocking Strikes, Veil Flurry

Best Companions: Davrin (Warrior/Tank), Harding or Lucanis (Rogue)

Rogue

If you want to play Dragon Age: The Veilguard purely as an action game with parrying and countering, the Rogue will cater to that playstyle. You can perform takedowns if you manage to stagger enemies enough. Takedowns are high-damage finishing blows you can activate with the R3.

The Duelist route for the Rogue is best for single-target DPS nonsense. The Duelist has access to the sweet Murder of Crows Ultimate that deals big AoE Necrotic damage, while Veil Ranger lets you just attack from afar with no hassle thanks to its multi-arrow attacks and near-limitless arrow count from all the stat boosts you get.

Best Rogue Build

• Specialization: Duelist (unlocks at level 20)
• Faction: Veil Rangers
• Key abilities: Toxic Dash, Explosive Daggers, A Thousand Cuts
• Ultimate ability: Concussive Barrage or Murder of Crows
• Key traits/passives: Poisonous Precision, Necrotic Fog, Adrenaline

Best Companions: Neve, Bellara, Emmrich (either two of the three). Just make sure your Mages have healing spells to keep your Duelist alive.

Verdict

While all of them are fun to play, we feel that the Rogue is the best in terms of evasive moves, counters, and hard-hitting damage. They can alternate between ranged and melee on the fly, and they have access to criticals and traps if you’re putting skill points in the right skill tree slots. The Duelist melts enemies quick, while the Saboteur lays loads of traps that deal ton of AoE damage. Overall, you can’t go wrong with the Rogue’s countering, parrying, and dodging skills.