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There are a few big decisions you'll have to make when you're making your Rook in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but the one that's going to have the biggest impact on your journey is the class you choose. Each of the game's three classes approach combat in considerably different ways, and while there is some overlap, each one is best used with specific strategies and tactics. Eventually, you'll also have three Specializations for your class to potentially build into as well, with these subclasses encouraging you to further refine your playstyle.
The game gives you brief descriptions of each class during character creation, but even so, it's hard to know which one will be the best class for you. To help you make a choice for your adventure in Thedas, I've put together this guide that goes over how each class works, each of their Specializations, and the playstyles that each one is ideal for.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard — Best class to play
While different classes are stronger than others in some action RPGs, they're pretty well-balanced in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. For that reason, I don't recommend picking one by trying to use viability and overall power as your determining factors, as Mage, Rogue, and Warrior are all relatively equal in this regard. Instead, you should pick your class based on which one sounds the most fun to play, as well as which one has a Specialization that sounds like it'll fit with your preferred playstyle. A thorough analysis of each class can be found in the sections below, so make sure to read through them.
Something important to note is that you won't be able to reach a Specialization in your character's skill trees until Level 20, so don't expect to pick one right away; you'll need to make some significant story progress before they become available. Also keep in mind that while you can freely spec into a different Specialization at any time, you can only have one active at a time.
Can you change class in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
While class Specializations can be changed in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the class you go with cannot. That means you'll be stuck with your selected class (along with other things like race and faction) for the entirety of your playthrough, so choose wisely and give the decision lots of thought. You'll have to start a new game to pick a different class.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard — Mage class
- Races: Elf, Qunari, and Human
- Armor: Light
- Weapon: Staves, Dagger and Orb
- Verbs: Burst, Sustain, Control
- Specializations: Death Caller, Evoker, Spellblade
- Resource: Mana (regenerates over time)
Of the three classes in The Veilguard, the Mage is arguably the riskiest one to play, but also reaps some of the best rewards if you master proper positioning and spell timing. Wielding either Staves or Daggers and Orbs and wearing only light armor, Mages excel at using arcane magics to buff allies, crowd control the battlefield, and obliterate their enemies. However, their low health and poor protection means that they're largely a backline class, with tactics like kiting often necessary to keep major threats at bay. With that said, the Spellblade Specialization does give Mages the tools to fight in close-quarters effectively, so you can be a powerful battlemage if you want to.
The Mage's class resource is Mana, which regenerates over time and fuels your deadliest and most effective spells. As a Mage, it's important to try and keep some Mana in reserve at all times so you can respond to something you might not be expecting, such as a foe starting to close the gap on you. Without it, you'll have to wait a bit before you can cast a strong attack.
Something unique about Mage is that it's the only class Dwarves can't use, as in Dragon Age lore, they don't have a connection to the Fade realm and can't channel magic as a result. If you want to be a Mage, make sure you choose one of the other races.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Mage Specializations
All three Mage Specializations in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are incredibly powerful, though they play pretty differently from one another. Here are some details about them that will help you pick one:
- Death Caller: This is your "nuke" style Mage subclass, complete with a strong emphasis on high DPS output with necrotic damage and spells fueled by their own health. Death Callers can drain life from enemies to counteract this, but their lack of strong crowd control means that they'll struggle to stay in the fight if not positioned well.
- Evoker: The Evoker also wants to stay away from foes, though they excel at crowd control as opposed to dishing out raw damage. Evokers utilize elemental ice magic to slow and freeze incoming hordes, making them easier to take care of with follow-up spells or party member assistance.
- Spellblade: This is the Mage Specialization that wants to be close to its enemies, with the subclass combining strong melee attacks with vicious close-range lightning strikes. It's great for single-target damage and has some defensive capabilities, but it's quite challenging and will still require being on point with dodges.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard — Rogue class
- Races: Elf, Dwarf, Qunari, and Human
- Armor: Medium
- Weapon: Daggers, Bow
- Verbs: Burst, Sustain, Control
- Specializations: Duelist, Saboteur, Veil Ranger
- Resource: Momentum (gained by dodging attacks)
The Rogue class is perfect for players who want to roleplay as a dexterous assassin or a skilled ranger, and is capable of some of the highest burst damage on individual targets in the entire game. Their Daggers and Bow gives them effective options both up close and at range, and while they're not nearly as tanky as Warriors, their medium armor helps them survive hits that would likely kill lightly protected Mages. In many ways, Rogues are The Veilguard's "jack of all trades" class, though their Specializations let you lean hard into a specific desired playstyle.
Rangers use a resource called Momentum, which is gained whenever you dodge incoming attacks successfully. Gaining Momentum is entirely an active process, meaning that even bow-focused Rogues will need to get closer to adversaries than most Mages want to to evade damage and build it up. Luckily, Rogues are also the fastest and nimblest class, so as long as you're patient and take the time to learn how to dodge the attacks in enemy movesets, this won't be as dangerous as it sounds.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Rogue Specializations
Two of the Rogue's Specializations are very strong, while one is incredibly unique, but doesn't quite reach the heights of the other options (with that said, it's not at all bad or useless). Here's an overview:
- Duelist: As the name implies, this subclass is perfect for players that like to take down targets individually, dealing tons of high melee damage while deftly avoiding attacks thrown your way. The Duelist may have some difficulty dealing with crowds, though, especially if they get cornered and don't have a lot of room to work with.
- Saboteur: This unique Specialization is more about crowd control than DPS, and is largely centered around littering the battlefield with traps that make foes easy to pick off with arrows. It's not quite as powerful as the other two options, but it's still totally viable and a good pick for folks that want something a little unconventional.
- Veil Ranger: Essentially the ranged version of a Duelist, Veil Rangers snipe from afar for big critical hits, using special artifacts that imbue their arrows with potent magic. Though better than Duelists at thinning the horde as long as they're a good distance away from the front line, they struggle significantly if they're not able to put some distance between themselves and a major threat for an extended period of time.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard — Warrior class
- Races: Elf, Dwarf, Qunari, and Human
- Armor: Heavy
- Weapon: One-Handed Weapon and Shield, Two-Handed Weapon
- Verbs: Weapons, Survival, Abilities
- Specializations: Reaper, Slayer, Champion
- Resource: Rage (gained by hitting and being hit by enemies)
Warriors are the tanks of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, though don't let that fool you into thinking they can't hit hard and dish out the pain. Warriors are capable of great damage output, and while their offense isn't as potent as what's possible with Mage and Rogue, the upside is that their heavy armor and shields make them far more resilient. This makes them a particularly good choice for inexperienced action RPG players, as well as those who want to take the brunt of enemy attacks while party members lay into them.
Emphasizing the Warrior's role is its Rage resource, which builds as you both deal and take damage. Additionally, the class is — for the most part — only capable of lightly attacking from afar, meaning you'll want to be in melee combat as much as possible to consistently gain lots of Rage for your skills and special moves. You have the option of using a Shield with a One-Handed Weapon for greater blocking capabilities, or alternatively, you can switch to a Two-Handed Weapon for better damage and wide cleaves that make it easier to handle swarms of opponents.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Warrior Specializations
The three Warrior Specializations all encourage you to brawl on the front line, though one of them is more defensive while the other two are geared more towards offensive playstyles. Here's how each one works:
- Reaper: This is basically the melee version of the Mage's Death Caller subclass, as it's completely DPS-focused and uses your health as fuel for your power, allowing you to drain the life of your enemies to sustain yourself and stay in the fight. Taking a lot of damage is riskier as a Reaper than it is with the other Specializations, however.
- Slayer: Though still an offensive Specialization overall, Slayer is a bit more balanced than Reaper and emphasizes using colossal two-handed weapons to stagger and knock down your opponents.
- Champion: The best subclass for a defensive tank playstyle. Allows you to block lots of incoming damage with your stalwart shield, then retaliate with quick melee strikes and powerful fire attacks.
How will you save Thedas?
The Mage, Rogue, and Warrior classes all have distinctly different strengths and weaknesses, but all three of them are viable and effective in combat. Some specific Specializations may be better than others overall, but ultimately, you should just play whatever class sounds the most fun. After all, this is a decision you can't change later, and having to start over because you picked a class you ended up hating just because someone said it was better than others would be immensely frustrating.
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Personally, my main playthrough has been with a Warrior, as I've always gravitated towards tank characters and frontline fighters in RPGs and MMOs. However, if you think you'd like being a deadly assassin or a master of the arcane instead, you should pick Rogue or Mage, respectively.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the EA app), and PlayStation 5 for $59.99 (PC) or $69.99 (console) depending on which platform you're playing on. Note that you also have the option of accessing it through an EA Play Pro subscription. It's arguably one of the best Xbox games and best PC games of the year for RPG fans, and the first new Dragon Age in a decade.
