InDragon Age: The Veilguardcombat seems to bea little bit more complex than what is shownin plain sight. One of the tiny little secrets the game has is combatAdvantages, and in this guide, we will explain how to gain these buffs and how to use them to break your opponents apart.
To draw out the full potential of Rook and become a combat master, players need to learn everything about how to use every resource in the game. From the best way to gain Advantages during combat, to details on every type of buff in the game, including how to activate them and their respective effects. Let’s take a look at what Advantages are first, and how to gain them.
How To Gain Advantages In Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Combat Advantages are activated following certain conditions, some of which are intrinsic to each Class’s path and choice of Perks, while others are bound to the weapons players equip on their Rook. Certain Advantages activate once Rook performs an action, like drinking a potion for example, or in some caseswhen their companions use their abilities.
In the images above, we can see how a piece of equipment, in this case, a Potion Belt, generates theQuicknessadvantage upon drinking a potion, and also a Necklace that increases the duration of theQuickness effect.
One of the important details that the game doesn’t tell players, is the fact that Advantages stack without limits. That means every type of Advantage can be active on Rook or their companions at every time during combat.
There’s also another detail that most players can ignore at first, but certain weapons and armor sets have buffs that activate when Rook performs certain actions during combat, and some of these extra Perks are activated when there’s an active Advantage in our character.
All Advantages In Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Here’s a list of all combat Advantages in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, as well as details on how they buff Rook and their Companions:
Buff
Deflect
Grants one instance of damage deflection, making the character ignore the impact and damage of the next attack.
Energy Burst
Causing Fire or Electric damage increases the other type’s damage by 15% for 10 seconds.
Flaming Weapons
The Weapon is coated in Fire, granting additional damage to all attacks and turning it into the Fire element, applying Burning on enemies
Frost Weapons
The Weapon is coated in Ice , granting additional damage to all attacks and turning it into the Ice element, applying Frost on enemies
The character becomes immune to physical reactions and interruption
Invulnerable
The character becomes immune to all damage (some enemies have this Advantage until players break their shields - check notes below)
Necrotic Weapons
The Weapon is coated in Necrotic Energy, granting additional damage to all attacks and turning it into the Necrotic element, applying Necrosis on enemies
The character’s attacks ignore a percentage of the target’s defense
Turns the next charged/final attack into a critical strike
Actively reduces cooldowns on all abilities when active
Grants nearby companions extra damage during combat
The character receives a healing over time effect
The character increases its resistance against all types of damage
Runic Advantage
The effect Varies depending on the Runes Attached to the Lyrium Knife (check section below)
Shocking Weapons
The Weapon is coated in Lightning, granting additional damage to all attacks and turning it into the Lightning element, applying Shock on enemies
It is important to mention that theElemental Weaponsadvantages are constantly applied to certain weapons, like the Mage’s Staffs and Orbs, and it is important to combine their effects to cause altered statuses on enemies. Some companions will cause more damage to enemies affected by these Elemental effects, for example: Neve Gallus will shatter enemies who are Frozen or freeze enemies who are under the ‘Frost’ debuff effect.
In the case of theInvulnerableadvantage, some enemies will have a shield covering them from damage. To break these shields, players must complete certain conditions. In some cases, it requires them to shatter Red Lyrium Wards that will be floating in the air near the arena where the encounter happens. Pay attention to the surroundings, and always be aware of the advantages characters have to make the most out of Rook’s skills.
Finally,Runic Advantageis a special type of combat buff activated during combat, that will be unlocked once players recover Solas’s Lyrium Knife. The Lyrium Knife can have up to three runes slotted at the same time, and players will be able to collect more runes throughout exploration. Activating the Lyrium Knife will grant Runic Advantage and all buffs associated with the runes it has attached at the moment.
