Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Video game fandom
Video game fandom
Name	Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Abbreviation(s)	DAIV, DA4, DA:TV, DATV, DAV
Developer(s)	BioWare
Release date	Oct. 2024
External link(s)	http://www.dragonage.com
	Related articles on Fanlore.
	Contents 1 Gameplay; 2 Plot; 3 Characters 3.1 Rook; 3.2 Companions; 3.3 Advisors; 3.4 Others; ; 4 Romances; 5 Reception 5.1 Pre-Release; 5.2 Post-Release; ; 6 Controversies 6.1 Pre-Release Spoilers; 6.2 Changes in lore and forced canon world states; ; 7 Fandom; 8 Resources 8.1 Communities; 8.2 Archives; 8.3 Other Resources; ; 9 References;

Dragon Age: The Veilguard, originally Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, is the fourth game in BioWare's Dragon Age franchise. The game, in its final iteration, was officially announced in 2024, after it was initially announced as Dragon Age 4 in December 2018 and Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in June 2022.

Gameplay

The game distances itself from previous Dragon Age games on several points, in part due to the large gap of time between this and the previous game, but also possibly due to the game having initially been planned as something other than a single player RPG, unlike it's predecessors.

The player is now unable to control the companions, instead relaying simple instructions through a combo system. Companion players are now immortal and also do not greatly contribute to combat unless a combo is achieved (they are unable to do large amounts of damage or easily kill enemies on their own). The shift was done, according to devs, so that the player could better immerse themselves in the world.

Play testers have reported less differences between classes, many stating that playing warrior and rogue can act as the same class. Magic has also been made available to player and companion characters, independent of class.

Romance is now separate from the plot of the game and can be started independently from the story. The player now has clear warnings of when romance is about to start, starts, is about to end and ends. The romance is not tied to game quests nor apparently affected by them. Healing lore has also shifted or been adapted, with all companions and the player now being able to heal at will. These choices were, according to devs, made so that the player can take any companion with them during quests, without having to plan ahead and create a specific party for a certain mission.

The aesthetic and style of the game and gameplay also left behind its dark fantasy roots, and are now brighter, smoother and more accessible. Some fans have compared it to games like Overwatch, Fortnight and Hogwarts Legacy, though often as criticism.

For the game, certain previous player choices have apparently been made canonical by devs, something the Dragon Age franchise had avoided doing, in order to keep the player's world unique to each person (for example: The Iron Bull lives).

Plot

Characters

Rook

Aldwir (Veil Jumpers)
de Riva (Antivan Crows)
Ingellvar (Mourn Watch)
Laidir (Lords of Fortune)
Mercar (Shadow Dragons)
Thorne (Grey Warden)

Companions

Advisors

Solas

Others

Romances

Reception

Pre-Release

Fans seemed divided during the pre-release period of the game, especially as more information came out.

When the world state creation process was shared^[1], many fans shared their disapproval of what was seen as a very biased and reduced mechanic^[2]. This was a departure from the Dragon Age Keep (used for DAI) or the simpler mechanic of importing a previous game save file (DA2), and considered a major downgrade by many.

Many fans also criticized the attention given to an optional romance choice from the previous game, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Female Elf Inquisitor (Lavellan)/Solas, as it was a departure from the way Dragon Age games had been built, with many despairing over the apparent lack of attention given to world-stages that were based on different choices. Fans of the Solavellan pairing, on the other hand, rejoiced with the importance given to the pairing, and the possible continuation of the romance, something which had not happened in previous games.

As with Dragon Age: Inquisition, fans began creating fan works before the game was released. The main characters present in fanfic were Female Lavellan and Solas, characters from the previous game, with Rook, Emmrich Volkarin and Lucanis Dellamorte being the others.

Post-Release

Controversies

Pre-Release Spoilers

Prior to the launch of DA4, fans expressed their disappointment at the amount of story content spoilers Bioware was releasing as part of marketing. This included towards council members invited to playtest the game, who some fans felt were being too obvious with their teasing of what they knew. In particular, Kala Elizabeth (kalaelizabeth on Twitter X), a council member who had been invited to give feedback on the game over the years, deactivated her account on the 6th of September 2024, following the fallout received after posting a tweet regarding spoilers, posted after the big content creator event Bioware hosted where creators were able to play the game (not just the council members). Although now gone, the tweet has been screenshotted and is was as follows:

Y'all are not ready for what you're going to see on the 19th. I'm so serious. If you don't want spoilers, you will probably need to leave social media. This is a preemptive warning for what I will also be posting. Be safe out there #DragonAge^[3]

Changes in lore and forced canon world states

Certain previous game player choices are apparently ignored in The Veilguard.^[4] Lore from short stories, if contradicting the game, is not canon.^[5]

Fandom

Resources

Communities

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Other Resources