BioWare changed Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’s title to Dragon Age: The Veilguard to better represent its story. This new name refers to your party as a whole, and the characters who make it up were the stars of the new cinematic trailer the studio showed off at the Xbox Games Showcase. But if you’re a Dragon Age diehard, you might recognize some of these characters from books, comics, and past games. Here’s what we know about Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s party.
First up, we have Scout Lace Harding. This dwarven rogue is probably the most recognizable confirmed party member, as she played a pretty pivotal role in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Harding was the player’s scout in the 2014 RPG, and as has become a tradition in Dragon Age, a fan-favorite side character is getting a bigger role in a sequel. BioWare describes her as having a “big heart, a positive outlook, and a ready bow,” which all lines up with what we’ve seen of her so far. But what is surprising is that Harding will have “unexpected magical powers,” so there’s still plenty more to learn about our old friend this time around.
Next, we have Neve, a human mage operating out of the Tevinter capital Minrathous. Neve is a detective who appears in the Tevinter Nights anthology book, as well as the comic book series The Missing. Neve has been investigating the extremist mage faction called the Venatori, which puts her in the sightlines of the Inquisition. She helps the group investigate Solas, the Inquisition-party-member-turned-Veilguard-antagonist, and it seems her involvement is only going to continue in the game when it launches this fall. BioWare describes her as a “cynic,” but she is fighting for a better future as part of the Shadow Dragons faction that fights to end slavery in Tevinter.
Lucanis Dellamorte is a human rogue who works with the assassin’s organization the Anitvan Crows. The faction has been operating in the background of the Dragon Age series since Origins, but we haven’t had one in our party since Zevran in the first game. Lucanis appeared in the Tevinter Nights anthology in which he is set on a contract to kill a wigmaker and Venatori agent in Tevinter. The mission goes bad and Lucanis is presumed dead by the Crows. But death clearly suits him.
Bellara is one of the newcomers in The Veilguard. She’s an elven rogue “Veil Jumper,” part of a group introduced in The Missing comics who formed to protect the Arlathan Forest in the Tevinter Imperium. BioWare describes her as “creative and romantic” and “obsessed” with discovering secrets of the universe. She’s seen jumping through an Eluvian mirror’s portal in the cinematic trailer with a smile on her face, even as she gets pulled back in by some kind of tentacle monster.
Emmrich, the human Tevinter mage, is giving “Dorian Pavus’ grandpa.” The mustache-sporting necromancer was also featured in the Tevinter Nights anthology in which he’s shown to be a master of the dark arts of life and death. He’s part of the Mourn Watch, a group that are essentially keepers and maintainers of the dead. He’s so skilled in resurrecting and controlling the dead that he has a skeleton assistant named Manfred.
Another newcomer in The Veilguard is Davrin. He’s brand new to the series, but his faction isn’t. Davrin is a member of the Grey Wardens, the Darkspawn-killing order that has been a figurehead in Dragon Age since Origins. BioWare says he’s “bold and charming” and is apparently a notable monster hunter. He’s also my new husband, probably. Maybe. If Lucanis doesn’t steal my heart. Look, we’re all scouting these characters out for who we’re gonna smooch and we can apparently wife up whoever we want. Don’t judge me.
The lone Qunari companion this time around is Taash. She hasn’t appeared in any other Dragon Age media, but if the character trailer is any indication she’s clearly an adventurous fighter who is willing to take on whole-ass dragons by herself. Taash is part of the Lords of Fortune, a group of treasure hunters from the country of Rivain.
While Varric doesn’t seem to be a party member, the fan-favorite companion from Dragon Age II and Inquisition appears to be in some kind of leadership role in The Veilguard. He’s shown talking to Harding about recruiting all of these chucklefucks, so odds are he’ll play a major part in wherever the story goes. This guy’s been on the frontlines for two games now, so maybe it’s good that he gets out of the scrap for once.
That’s what we know about this new crew so far. Whether they live up to the highs of the past games remains to be seen. It’s gonna be hard to live up to characters like Dorian Pavus and Morrigan, but after ten years, I’m eager to see BioWare rise to the occasion.
