Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age: The Veilguard, previously referred to as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, The Dread Wolf Rises or Dragon Age 4, is the fourth installment of the Dragon Age video game series. It will be released on October 31, 2024 for PC and current generation platforms.
== Announcement and release ==
On December 6, 2018, at the 2018 Game Awards, BioWare released a teaser trailer. The video mostly shows a close-up view of the lyrium idol, a dwarven artifact uncovered by the Champion of Kirkwall during the events of Dragon Age II. The image shown at the end of the trailer depicts the idol in the center, an unnamed character to the left, and what is likely a wolf to the right. The idol is surrounded by seven circles, two of which have not been greyed out, and the ground appears to be on fire.
In late 2018, the game was said to have been in development "for quite a while." Sources within BioWare stated that the game would be released no earlier than 2021, and that, as of late 2018, the game was without an official name.
In a company earnings call, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen stated that the game would probably be released post-fiscal year 2022.
On June 2, 2022, the game’s title was officially announced to be Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
In a blog post published on Dragon Age Day 2023, BioWare published a teaser and announced that more information about the game would be released during the summer of 2024.
On June 6, 2024, BioWare announced that the game's title had been changed from Dragon Age: Dreadwolf to Dragon Age: The Veilguard. On June 9, 2024, they announced that the game would release in the Fall of 2024.
== Development ==
An April 9, 2019 article by Jason Schreier of Kotaku stated that the game was originally intended to be a heist-heavy, smaller-scope adventure revolving around a group of spies in the Tevinter Imperium. Players would have the opportunity to influence other characters, enjoy a rich companion roster, and watch the land and scenario change over time with their choices and–potentially, with multiplayer–the choices of thousands of other players. However, in February 2021 it was confirmed that the game would be exclusively single-player. There was no mention of the Inquisition in the Kotaku summary, and the protagonist was clearly not The Inquisitor. 
In the early stages of development, the Veilguard project was code-named "Joplin," and thematically centered around heists. This working title changed after much of BioWare's staff were routed from the project to work on other BioWare titles, with a small team remaining to start the Veilguard project anew. Now code-named "Morrison," this second evolution was built on Anthem's tools and codebase, featuring a multiplayer live service component akin to Destiny. The decision to use multiplayer was later reversed. The game was renamed "Veilguard" after a change in the story's direction.
The game's companion system took inspiration from BioWare's Mass Effect franchise. Its talent system was inspired by JRPG titles such as Final Fantasy X.
In July 2020, Mark Darrah reiterated that BioWare was continuing to work on the game, but that progress had been slow due to the amount of staff required to work from home (due to the Covid pandemic).
The game reached its alpha milestone in October 2022, meaning that the game was playable from start to finish.
== Reception ==
Dragon Age: The Veilguard received "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic, getting a Metascore of 84/100 on PS5 based on 51 critic reviews, 80/100 on PC based on 23 critic reviews, and 93/100 on Xbox Series X based on 5critic reviews.
== Plot ==
The protagonist of the game is known as Rook. The game starts around 9:52 Dragon, 9-10 years after Dragon Age: Inquisition and Trespasser.[note 1] Solas has begun his ritual to tear down the Veil, causing demons to slip into the world. Members of the Inquisition, having recruited a new ally that Solas would never see coming, attempt to stop him before he can finish his ritual.
== Data transfer and world-states ==
Only three choices from Dragon Age: Inquisition can be imported into Veilguard. These choices are: who your Inquisitor romanced, whether or not you disbanded the inquisition, and whether you vowed to stop or save Solas. The ability to import these choices is fully integrated into the character creator. For players that need a refresher on the previous games' story, you can go through past adventures and you will be shown through tarot card art the decisions to make and the context for it. 
The Dragon Age Keep will not be used to import past choices, and decisions made in Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: II cannot be imported into the game. 
== Characters ==
=== Major characters ===
* Rook - the protagonist of the game
* Elgar'nan
* Ghilan'nain
* Solas
* Varric Tethras
=== Companions ===
* Bellara Lutare
* Davrin
* Emmrich Volkarin
* Lace Harding
* Lucanis Dellamorte
* Neve Gallus
* Taash
=== Others ===
* Andarateia Cantori
* Antoine
* Caterina Dellamorte
* Evka Ivo
* Illario Dellamorte
* Irelin
* Strife
* The Inquisitor
* Morrigan
* Manfred
* Maevaris Tilani
* Viago De Riva
* Zara Renata
== Quests ==
== Gameplay ==
The Veilguard will not be open world, but will instead be "mission based," with the characters operating from a hub area called the Lighthouse. Compared to prior games, Veilguard features more limited control over companions, and only two companions may be taken to the field at any one time.
The game will feature a complex skill system, crafting, and transmogrification, with three active combat abilities and unique gear-based abilities. The level cap is 50.
== Locations ==
* Anderfels
** Hossberg Wetlands
** Weisshaupt
* Antiva
** Treviso
* Deep Roads
* Fade
** The Crossroads
** Lighthouse
* Nevarra
** Grand Necropolis
* Rivain
* Tevinter Imperium
** Arlathan Forest
** Minrathous
== System requirements ==
:
System 	PC 	PC
System 	Recommended 	Minimum
OS 	Windows 10/11 64-bit 	Windows 10/11 64-bit
CPU 	Intel Core i9-9900K AMD Ryzen 7 3700X	Intel Core i5-8400 AMD Ryzen 3 3300X
System RAM 	16 GB 	16 GB
Graphics Card	NVIDIA RTX 2070 AMD Radeon RX 5700XT 	NVIDIA GTX 970/1650 AMD Radeon R9 290X
Hard Drive 	100GB SSD 	100GB SSD Preferred, HDD Supported (AMD CPUs on Windows 11 require AGESA V2 1.2.0.7
Miscellaneous	DirectX 12 	DirectX 12
== Notes ==
* There is some contradiction on when Dragon Age: The Veilguard takes place, whether the time passage is from Dragon Age: Inquisition or from the events of Trespasser. In an interview, John Epler states that it starts 9 years after Inquisition. However, in the official BioWare discord QnA, John Epler states that since the start of development they placed The Veilguard at 10 years since Trespasser. Where as it is recalled by Patrick Weekes that they had it set at 9:52 Dragon. This is echoed by short story The Flame Eternal, which places the current time period at 9:52. These contradictions place the range somewhere between 9:51-9:54 for possible start dates for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
== Trivia ==
* Dragon Age: The Veilguard has 140,000 lines of voiced dialogue (80,000 without all the Rooks).
== Gallery ==
<tabber>
Promotional media=
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EA_play_2020_3.png
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|-|
Concept art=
DA4 The Dread Wolf Rises.jpg|"An old friend with a shadowy threat."
Concept art da4 2.png|"The Evil Gods have Thedas in their sight and only heroes can stop them."
Concept art da4 3.png|"From their Necropolis, the Mourn Watch guard Thedas from occult threats."
Concept art da4 29.jpg|"The Deep Roads teem with evils both new and old, known and unknowable."
Concept art da4 9.png|"The Antivan Crows have perfected theatrical assassinations."
Concept art da4 24.png|"Where there's treasure, there's adventurers braving death to get it."
Concept art da4 28.jpg
Concept art da4 30.jpg
Concept art da4 31.jpg
</tabber>
== References ==
== External links ==
* Official EA Website
 
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