All Dragon Age The Veilguard skills

What are the best Dragon Age The Veilguard skills? Half the fun of Bioware RPGs is taking a ragtag band of nobodies and watching them transform into legendary heroes. DA:V continues that tradition with Rook, our fresh-faced protagonist and unlikely leader of the titular Veilguard. Once you've determined Rook's lineage and class, unlocking skills is the next port of call.

Skills are the backbone of your build in Dragon Age Veilguard max level cap. Here are the best skills to choose first.

Best Dragon Age Veilguard skills

The best skills in Dragon Age Veilguard can vary depending on the class specialization you choose, though several skills offer universal benefit to any variation of warrior, rogue, or mage.

The best skills to pick first include resource generation bonuses and buffs to status effects like stagger. We've also included abilities that are essential to your class characteristics, giving you a solid foundation to spend your excess skill points however you please. If you need further instruction, our breakdown of the best Dragon Age Veilguard builds should be your next port of call.

Best warrior skills

Core: Counterblow, Rancor, Shield Volley, Tumbling Blades.
Survival: Depth of Fury, Groundbreaker, Return to Sender.
Abilities: Deadly Ground, Depth of Fury, Enduring Rage, Enraged, Explosive Toss, Killer Instinct, Spectral Bulwark.
Weapons: Cleaving Strike, Fury of the Forge, Incite Violence, Velocity.
Lord of Fortune: Blunt Force, Guardian's Reprieve
Mourn Watch: Seething Pitch

Best mage skills

Core: Charging Spirit, Fade Strike, Mind Blast, Mortal Concentration, Quick Recovery.
Burst: Chain Lightning, Killer Instinct, Nexus Shock, Perfect Cast, Reclamation, Tempest, Fade Conduit.
Sustain: Bombastic, Inner Focus, Meteor, Prolong, Velocity, Wall of Fire.
Control: Absorb, Fade Reflex, Frost Shield, Frostbite, Ice Blast, Meditation, Frost Nova.
Shadow Dragon: Elemental Catalyst, Frost Shield.
Antivan Crow: Bulwark.

Best rogue skills

Core: Downfall, Endure, Evasive Maneuvers, Exploding Arrow, Riposte.
Burst: Decisive Finish, Explosive Daggers, Hurricane of Blades, Momentous Occasion, Traumatize.
Control: Burst of Speed, Determination, Keen Eye, Killer Instinct, Reeling Bolt, Salvaged Arrows, Traumatize, Rain of Decay.
Sustain: Burst of Speed, Determination, Lightning Flask, Pilfer, Swift Rebuke, Tipped Arrowheads, Leaping Shot.
Lord of Fortune: Close Quarters Combat, Pounce, Unending Quiver.

All Dragon Age The Veilguard skills

Skills are split into five types that range from class-defining abilities to more incremental buffs and modifiers. Regardless of your Dragon Age Veilguard class, the best skills to unlock will consist of five core abilities and one ultimate alongside minor skills that empower them.

The DA:V skill types are:

Traits – Skill modifiers and bonus combos
ives – Persistent stat buffs
Abilities – Actions available to use during combat
Ultimates – Explosive finishers to turn the tide of battle

The skill trees in Dragon Age The Veilguard are more free-form than their counterparts in Origins and Inquisition. Rather than following a set path, you'll build out the branches of the skill tree in whichever direction you choose.

All Warrior skills

Here are all the Dragon Age Veilguard Warrior skills:

Skill	Type	Description
Deadly Ground	Abilities Ability	Create a Necrotic field at your current location. Enemies caught inside the field take constant damage until they escape. Grants enhanced damage while you are inside the field.
Depth of Fury	Abilities ive	+50 Maximum Rage.
Enduring Rage	Abilities ive	Your Rage no longer decays below 50, allowing you to sustain it between fights.
Enraged	Abilities ive	+10% Rage generation.
Explosive Toss	Abilities Trait	Charging your shield toss at least one level and then pressing light attack will toss an explosive version of the shield, causing it to deal damage in an area around the target. This attack has a high chance to disrupt enemies.
Killer Instinct	Abilities ive	+20% Stagger from abilities.
Spectral Bulwark	Abilities Ability	Hone your guard and protect yourself from enemies foolish enough to attack. Enemies who hit you with a melee attack take damage and very high Stagger. Increases Defense by 50% while active.
Counterblow	Core Trait	Deflect your enemy's attack and perform a powerful counterattack.
Rancor	Core ive	Rage takes 50% longer to begin to decay.
Shield Volley	Core Trait	Striking a shield toss with a shield attack volleys the shield back at enemies up to three times, dealing damage each time.
Tumbling Blades	Core Trait	Use your speed to unleash a powerful attack immediately after performing a combat roll.
Blunt Force	Lord of Fortune ive	Enemies are knocked down when their armor breaks.
Guardian's Reprieve	Lord of Fortune ive	Performing a takedown heals you for 250 health and grants Deflect.
Seething Pitch	Mourn Watch ive	Shield Toss now generates two additional Rage on impact. Striking weak points doubles the effect.
Depth of Fury	Survival ive	+50 Maximum Rage.
Groundbreaker	Survival Ability	Detonates Weakened. Shake and shatter the ground with your weapon, spreading cracks that explode after a short delay. Damage is applied on the initial strike and again a short time later. The secondary explosion applies Burning and is likely to disrupt enemies.
Return to Sender	Survival Trait	Send incoming projectiles back at your attacker with perfect defense.
Cleaving Strike	Weapons Ability	A large, sweeping strike pushes a damaging wave over the battlefield. Damage dealt increases with distance from the target. Applies Bleeding on hit.
Fury of the Forge	Weapons Ability	Burning steel blades rain down on your enemies. Applies Burning on impact.
Incite Violence	Weapons ive	Generate 15% more Rage from weapon attacks. This value is doubled against enemies suffering from an affliction.
Velocity	Weapons ive	+20% Stagger from weapon attacks.

All Mage skills

Here are all the Dragon Age Veilguard Mage skills:

Skill	Type	Description
Bulwark	Antivan Crow ive	+10% Physical Resistance
Chain Lightning	Burst Ability	Charge the air and fire a bolt of lightning that splits to hit multiple targets in a chain reaction. The bolt bounces up to three times, dealing damage to each enemy hit and rendering them Shocked.
Killer Instinct	Burst ive	+20% Stagger from abilities.
Nexus Shock	Burst ive	Hitting enemies with at least three stacks of Shocked causes a chain of Electric damage that strikes up to two additional enemies within range.
Perfect Cast	Burst Trait	Releasing a charged attack the moment it reaches the maximum charge level increases its damage by 50%.
Reclamation	Burst ive	+8 Mana restored after defeating enemy.
Tempest	Burst Ability	Weave a powerful thunderstorm around you. Lightning strikes a random enemy within eight meters of the casting zone every two seconds. Deals Electric damage to all enemies caught by the blast, rendering them Shocked.
Fade Conduit	Burst ive	+50 maximum Mana.
Absorb	Control ive	Whenever you defend against an attack, staff energy is charged by 25%.
Fade Reflex	Control Trait	Timing your dodge just before the enemy's attack lands slows down time for a short duration. You can move and attack normally.
Frostbite	Control ive	+15% damage against Frozen enemies.
Frost Nova	Control Ability	Freeze your enemies to the bone if they get too close. A wide area around you is Frozen.
Ice Blast	Control Ability	Hurl shards of ice, impaling enemies caught in the way. Deals damage in a tight radius around your target, leaving behind shards that render enemies Chilled when touched.
Meditation	Control ive	+15% Mana regeneration rate.
Charging Spirit	Core ive	Staff energy generates ively when you are not in combat.
Fade Strike	Core Trait	Use your speed to unleash a powerful attack with any weapon after using Fade Step. Also unlocks an additional follow-up attack while sprinting.
Mind Blast	Core Trait	While defending, consume 50 Mana to unleash a shockwave six meters in all directions. Deals damage based on your equipped staff.
Mortal Concentration	Core Trait	Sustaining your ranged attack gradually increases its damage output the longer it is active, to a maximum of three seconds.
Quick Recovery	Core ive	Mana regeneration restarts 25% faster when paused by spending mana or taking damage.
Elemental Catalyst	Shadow Dragon ive	Abilities gain +15% bonus damage based on the damage type of your staff and orb weapons.
Frost Shield	Shadow Dragon ive	Enemies who inflict damage on you are Chilled.
Bombastic	Sustain ive	Blast abilities now deal 25% more detonation damage. Arcane Shot now detonates Sundered enemies.
Inner Focus	Sustain ive	Successful light attacks generate an additional 25% Mana. This value is doubled against enemies suffering from an affliction.
Meteor	Sustain Ability	Call down an elemental meteor that crushes and burns enemies in its way. Deals damage in an area around your target and applies Burning.
Prolong	Sustain ive	+20% affliction duration.
Velocity	Sustain ive	+20% Stagger from weapon attacks.
Wall of Fire	Sustain Ability	Summon a flaming barrier, burning enemies foolish enough to cross it. Enemies incur damage and Burning each second they remain inside the wall.

All Rogue skills

Here are all the Dragon Age Veilguard Rogue skills:

Skill	Type	Description
Decisive Finish	Burst ive	+10% agile attack damage, charged attack damage, and final attack damage.
Explosive Daggers	Burst Ability	Applies Sundered. Unleash a barrage of sticky, explosive daggers. Fires three daggers that stick to their targets, then explode after a short time.
Hurricane of Blades	Burst Ability	Deals 350 Necrotic damage. Spin around in a ring of rapid strikes. Nearby enemies are hit up to four times. The final strike deals more damage.
Momentous Occasion	Burst ive	Generate 25% more Momentum from final attacks. The effect is doubled when you have Adrenaline.
Traumatize	Burst ive	+15% Takedown damage.
Burst of Speed	Control ive	+10% Momentum generation.
Determination	Control ive	+50 Maximum Momentum
Keen Eye	Control ive	You generate two additional Momentum from arrow hits. This bonus is doubled when hitting an enemy's weak point.
Killer Instinct	Control ive	+20% Stagger from abilities.
Reeling Bolt	Control Ability	Applies Weakened. Nock your bow with a special arrow that shocks and disorients enemies. Deals very high Stagger and applies Shocked to the primary target. Nearby enemies are pulled toward the target.
Salvaged Arrows	Control ive	+2 arrows gained after defeating an enemy.
Traumatize	Control ive	+15% Takedown damage.
Rain of Decay	Control Ability	Rain death from above. Damage is inflicted each second to all enemies caught in the area of this attack.
Downfall	Core ive	Jump attacks guarantee critical hits if the target is knocked down.
Endure	Core ive	Lose 35% less Momentum when you take damage.
Evasive Maneuvers	Core Trait	Use your speed to launch a powerful attack from an extended dodge. Also applies recovering from being knocked down.
Exploding Arrow	Core Trait	Simultaneously performing a light and ranged attack attaches a sticky arrow to a target in range. The arrow explodes after a short delay.
Riposte	Core Trait	After a successful defend, you can now launch a powerful counterattack.
Close Quarters Combat	Lord of Fortune ive	Deals 15% more damage to all enemies within ten meters.
Pounce	Lord of Fortune ive	Gain 50 Momentum and regain 25% of your arrows after performing a successful takedown.
Unending Quiver	Lord of Fortune ive	Activating any ability grants two more arrows.
Burst of Speed	Sustain ive	+10% Momentum generation.
Determination	Sustain ive	+50 maximum Momentum.
Lightning Flask	Sustain Ability	Throw down a flask of bottled lightning that explodes, unleashing a storm of pain on nearby enemies. Deals damage in a large area upon impact, while creating an aura that deals Electric damage and applies Shocked to nearby enemies.
Pilfer	Sustain Ability	Detonates Overwhelmed. Add insult to injury by swiping a potion when you slice up an enemy. Applies Bleeding on hit. The potion is automatically consumed after being stolen.
Swift Rebuke	Sustain ive	Gain Momentum when you perfect dodge or perform a perfect defense.
Tipped Arrowheads	Sustain ive	+2 maximum arrows.
Leaping Shot	Sustain Trait	Leap backward and fire an exploding arrow into the ground. Deals damage over a small area around the point of impact.

Skill specializations

Specializations are extensions of the core skill tree which contain unique abilities to tune your class to a particular playstyle. Each specialization aligns with the theme of a particular fantasy game flavor – you're not required to align with the faction of your specialization to unlock it.

Skill specializations automatically unlock once your character reaches level 20. While the specialization node itself can be unlocked at no cost, you still need to expend the skill points necessary to reach its position on the skill tree. You can only have one specialization active at a time, so choose wisely.

Here are all the Dragon Age The Veilguard skill specializations:

Warrior

Specialization	Description	Faction
Champion	Sword-and-board defensive tank	Grey Wardens
Reaper	Lifesteal, high-risk but high-reward	Mourn Watch
Slayer	Two-handed berzerker	Lords of Fortune

Mage

Specialization	Description	Faction
Death Caller	Necromancer	Mourn Watch
Evoker	Elemental spellcaster	Shadow Dragons
Spellblade	Magic-enhanced melee	Ativan Crows

Rogue

Specialization	Description	Faction
Duelist	Dual-wielding, parry and dodge melee	Antivan Crows
Saboteur	Explosive traps and turrets	Lords of Fortune
Veil Ranger	Long-range archer	Veil Jumpers

How to upgrade skills

Choosing the best skills is only the first step for a powerful party in Dragon Age The Veilguard. To take them from strength to strength, you can upgrade their abilities with enchantments available at the Caretaker's Workshop. These enchantments act as bonus ives specific to that ability, offering percentage buffs to its damage, stagger effect, and more.

However, upgrading skills comes with a few caveats. Only one enchantment can be active per ability, and enchantments can't be shared between them. Additionally, while enchanting your skills doesn't cost anything to unlock, the number of enchantments at your disposal depends upon the Workshop's rank.

Now that you're ready to choose the best skills for your party, check out the story games to get stuck into after your latest trip to Thedas.