Summary
Last night, fans spotted an interesting detail from YouTuber WolfheartFPS’sDragon Age: The Veilguardpreview — it appears as though upsetting your companions will make them less effective in combat.
Wolfheart mentioned a “reputation system with companions” in which your decisions through the story directly effect your relationships. He added that one of these choices had huge ramifications for Neve’s gameplay, although he didn’t divulge details as to avoid spoilers: “Something happened to Neve in the game because of a choice made by the player and it caused — I don’t know if it’s permanent — this status effect”.
That status effect in question is that Neve will “no longer use supportive abilities,” but her “damaging abilities are more effective.” Basically, annoy your companions and they’ll refuse to heal you. But hey, at least they’ll direct that anger at the demons instead.
Your Relationships Play A Big Role In Dragon Age: The Veilguard
It’s certainly in-line with what we know about relationships and combat so far. While you’re able to’t control companions directly this time,they will earn new skills through “Relationship Levels”. The stronger your bond with a party member, the more skill points you’ll have to spend on them.
It’s not a new mechanic for the series. In the very first game, companions earned buffs if they liked you, and in Dragon Age 2, maxing out their friendship or rival metres unlocked unique abilities. The Veilguard seems to be following suit, with some interesting status effects sprinkled in.
The “reputation system” WolfheartFPS mentioned sounds like it might be the same Relationship Level that Game Informer detailed earlier this year (we can’t link to the original article asthe publication was closed down in August, but a Reddit user consolidated the key detailshere).
In their hands on with the game, they explained that your choices, what you say to each companion, how you help them (or how you don’t), all influence this level. So, you might have to keep them happy if you want them at their best in a fight.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
WHERE TO PLAY
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the long-awaited fourth game in the fantasy RPG series from BioWare formerly known as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. A direct sequel to Inquisition, it focuses on red lyrium and Solas, the aforementioned Dread Wolf.
