If you’ve played any ARPG in recent memory, you’ll be familiar with a lot of the gameplay elements at play in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Light attacks, heavy attacks, charged attacks, blocking, dodging - all of these should be familiar enough. Toss in the ability to equip and use up to three active skills and an ultimate ability which are powered by your primary class resource and/or a cooldown and you’ve got the meat of your arsenal in the game. Skills are quite diverse and have numerous gameplay applications, dealing different sorts of damage with some specializing in single-target damage or AoE, while other skills serve as healing, buffs or debuffs. Some skills inflict special debuffs that prime enemies for detonations, which are triggered when a primed enemy is struck by the appropriate detonator. This page will explain how primers and detonator skills work and which classes pair well with each other in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Page Breakdown¶

Primers and Detonators¶

Bioware has been keen on streamlining RPG elements for ages now, but once upon a time you’d have dozens of spells imposing various debuffs, and working out effective combos was one of the player’s primary responsibilities. As the Dragon Age games have increasingly become more action-oriented over the years, this process of discovery (read: the player looking up guides) has been made more explicit in the form of set combos consisting of one skill that acts as a primer and a second skill that serves as a detonator. Hit ‘em with the ol’ one-two punch, in other words.

Not all skills impose debuffs, and not all debuffs are primers, nor does every skill serve as a detonator, and skills that are detonators only trigger with specific primers. Instead, specific debuffs serve as primers that can be triggered by other skills, and primers and detonators are almost exclusively possessed by different classes.

Companion Primers and Detonators¶

Simply put, you’re encouraged to mix up your party so multiple classes are represented, ensuring that various characters can prime and detonate enemies, setting up potent combos. Having two characters that can combo off each other is usually pretty easy, but for optimal tactical flexibility it’s nice to have two different combos you can use. You know, in case one character has to burn their cooldown by healing you won’t be left unable to prime and detonate an enemy by using the skills of the other two. The list above only applies to your companions, without fail - Rook is special, possessing three specialization routes and far more active abilities per class. This expanded roster of skills comes with more primer/detonator options, as follows:

Rook Primers and Detonators¶

The reason for Rook’s versatility, from a design standpoint, is simple: Rook is the main character, and must always be in the party. She’s the only character you’ll control the entire game, in fact, and not having two different primers would ensure Rook can prime combos for both other classes. Of course, since Rook also has a primary class resource she can use to activate skills, she can (with the right build) spam abilities more often, and there’s nothing preventing, say, a mage Rook from just taking two rogues and having them set up Sundered primers for Rook to detonate, or for a mage Rook to spread around Weakened for two warrior companions to detonate. Rook’s versatility means you have options. Speaking of options, let’s discuss how Rook’s class and specialization might influence which companions work well together.

Mage Rook Combos¶

Mage Rook is a bit of an oddity. They have access to skill that inflict Weakened and Overwhelmed as primers, and share the traditional mage role of detonating Sundered, but their specializations and attendant playstyles are quite divergent to the point where you might not actually bother getting both primer types. An Arcane Bomb build - especially one making the natural move to double down as a Spellblade - will specialize in skills that inflict Overwhelmed, like Chain Lightning and Storm Surge, while Weakened primer skills like Ice Blast and Corrupted ground sit on the other side of the skill tree. On the other hand, a staff-focused Evoker build will probably be happy enough grabbing Ice Blast and Entropic Sphere and ignoring the Overwhelmed primers.

You’ll get more than enough skill points to splurge on a detour to grab the other primer, but this double-dips into another element, somewhat undermining enchantments and passives that boost your primary skill’s damage. Going out of your way as an orb and mageknife mage to get a Weakened primer that inflicts cold or necrotic damage instead of just doubling down on electric damage might be less appealing than just taking two rogues along with you. Meanwhile the Evoker specialist might rather keep their arsenal cold-based and take two strapping warriors with her.

It’s also worth noting that mage Rook’s starter ability, Arcane Shot, is neither a primer nor a detonator unless you pick up the Bombastic passive, located at the edge of the Sustain part of the skill tree - around twelve skill points away if you beeline to it. By comparison, rogue Rooks get Static Strikes (applies Weakened) and warrior Rooks begin with Driving Kick (detonates Weakened) as their starter skills.

Rogue Rook Combos¶

Information coming soon.

Warrior Rook Combos¶

As with most Warriors in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you don’t get much to play with when it comes to Combos. There’s more than if you were to take a Warrior Companion such as Davrin and Taash, but not to the extent of some of the other Classes.

You’ll begin the game with the Driving Kick Ability, that will detonate Weakness, handy for if you ever bring a Mage along as they all have Primers for Weakness. Beyond that, what Primers and Detonators you have access to will most likely be influenced by what Specialization you’re aiming for. Slayers will have little opportunity for anything more than a Primer for Weakness, the only Ability down there that you get is Heroic Leap, which also detonates Weakness.

If you’re going for a Champion, you’ll unlock both the Grappling Spear Ability that is an Overwhelm Primer and the Blight Bane Ability that Detonates Weakness. If you want a Rook that is going to be getting involved in Combos, this is your best pick. The Reaper Specialization will get you the path to Bloody Advance, an the only Ability that can Prime Sundered, and you’ll get another Weakness Detonator.

Realistically though, like the Combo system in general, you’re much better off focusing on bringing along two Companions that you can have Combo while your Warrior Rook focuses on doing what they do best, controlling the battlefield.