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After the overwhelming (in a good way) character creator of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, players will move on to choosing their starting faction. At first, it might only seem like something to add a bit of flair to your Rook. However, your choice will affect many things in the game. From conversations to gear and even passive combat bonuses, picking a faction isn’t something you should do lightly. So, if you need a bit of help when choosing one, we’ll list the pros and cons of each and explain how they affect your gameplay once you decide.
All Factions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
There are six factions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which you can choose from at the start. All of them offer combat bonuses as well as increased reputation gains, and even different dialogue when playing. While some Dragon Age veterans will be familiar with some, others are new to this entry’s setting. Also, while I would always recommend selecting the one that suits your roleplaying style the most, there are a few that will affect your playstyle, especially when choosing the right class combo.
Grey Wardens
The first and probably most popular faction in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the Grey Wardens. Dragon Age: Origins players will quickly recognize this one. Should the recruits survive The Joining, they will become monster-killing soldiers, mainly focusing on darkspawn. In Veilguard, you can pick it as your starting faction, and being a member of it will provide you with increased damage against Darkspawn creatures, increased reputation gains with the Grey Wardens, and a boost to your base Defense and Health. If you care about the best class/faction combo, picking a Warrior will synergize greatly with the Grey Wardens.
Veil Jumpers
Mentioned in Dragon Age: The Missing, this faction welcomes individuals from all races into its ranks. Purely speaking about roleplay, this is one slick faction to be part of. Members of the group focus on exploring elven ruins, mainly those located in Ariathan Forest. In terms of gameplay, choosing this faction will increase your reputation gains with the Veil Jumpers, increase your damage against Fade-Touched creatures, and boost your critical and weakpoint damage. This is an ideal faction for Rogues.
Shadow Dragons
The Shadow Dragons, and the one I picked for my character, hooked me as one of the most interesting factions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Also mentioned in Dragon Age: The Missing, this resistance group fights against slavery and the corrupt all around Tevinter. In the game, you’ll gain reputation faster with them, do more damage when fighting against Venatori, and regenerate your class’ resources faster. This faction is ideal for all classes.
Lords of Fortune
For those who want to bring a bit of Han Solo into The Veilguard, the Lords of Fortune is an excellent choice. Besides having the slickest faction armor of them all and having a cool background of treasure hunters, the bonuses you get by choosing this faction aren’t half bad. You get better reputation gains with the Lords of Fortune, do more damage against Mercenaries, and perform takedowns easily. Again, another faction that suits most classes. Yet, a few others eclipse it in terms of gameplay.
The Mourn Watch
If you like any form of necromancy in your video games, you can’t go wrong with The Mourn Watch. You might remember good old Emmrich as a member of this faction or might have read about it in Tevinter Nights. Like other factions, you’ll also get increased reputation gains, but instead, do more damage against Undead and Demons, as well as get the ability to apply additional Affliction stacks on enemies. This is a good class for Rogues and Mages.
Antivan Crows
Last but not least, we have the edgiest, most secretive, and slickest faction in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the Antivan Crows. This one is another faction that’s been around since Origins, and veterans of the series might want to join it as soon as possible. It is quite a good idea, especially when playing on a harder difficulty. Besides the increased reputation gains, you also do more damage against Antaam and get an extra potion, the latter being the most important bonus. While it might suit Rogues and Mages better, it is a great faction for all classes.
The Best Faction, Explained
While picking the best faction in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is subjective, there are a few things that make some stand above the others. For instance, in terms of roleplaying, all of them are great. If you’re playing in the easiest difficulty, I’d say pick whichever suits your Rook better. However, when playing on a harder difficulty, I’d recommend the following:
- Antivan Crows
- Shadow Dragons
- Grey Wardens
Antivan Crows’ extra potion is a huge boon during the game’s early hours. The increased generation rate for your class resource that the Shadow Dragons provides is also great, as you can spam your skills faster. Lastly, Grey Wardens buff your HP and Defense, making those squishy classes a bit more durable.
In any case, don’t feel forced to pick any of the ones I recommend. I’ve always believed that the roleplaying aspect is much more important than min-maxing in a game. Still, take your time when trying to decide what to choose because it’s a decision that will stick with you until the very end. In other words, you can’t change your faction.
