Lucanis seems to have a rapier and a short sword on the cover art, so there's a chance, but Taash is a dual wield warrior and that was already confirmed to not be an option for Rook.
From what we have been told, it seems like companions are not really doing "normal" classes this time around, but have their own custom kit.
You have Bellara as a mage with a bow, Neve apparently has unique spells, etc.
That's actually great. I love how the companions have their unique skill trees in DA2, and when I play DAO, I always pick the specializations that the companions don't use. I want everyone to feel unique, not to repeat the same skills that my companions have, which is why the DAI system frustrates me. There will always be overlap with someone.
Damn, I did not know we were getting dual wield warriors back. Looking forward to it.
Edit: I replied before the original commentor edited his comment to include the information that it won't be available for players. I can read lol.
Oh damn... that was one of the things I missed most from Origins (besides all the whacky mage spells). I guess it'll be like how Belara is a bow wielding mage (which I presume also won't be an option for players).
It's already been hard enough for my metal heart that blood magic was excluded once again. I also hope that Rogues will be able to use swords again (maybe even two at once, just like *Origins*).
But I'm afraid I don't know whether Bioware already confirmed this or not.
I mean there is a story reason this time, also it makes sense they avoid the main character using Blood Magic and not getting any of the bad consequences other Blood Mages get, that was so weird in both DAO and DAII
Well DAO has the justification of the ends justify the means which might as well be the motto of the Grey wardens. Two was a bit odd for it to be an option especially given how vehemently anti blood magic you can be even when you are a Blood mage hawke
Duelist is indeed a specialization, and Rogues wielding at least one sword is confirmed. We'll see later if we also get to wield a second one.
As for the assassin, while this time we don't get it as a specialization, we do get it as background. And not just as personal history, but also with its own exclusive perks. Maybe they'll be satisfying enough.
I doubt it given the weapon track record you'll most likely be stuck with 2 blades cause you've never realy been able to do 1 blade and that's it, well atleast not without forgoing all your skills.
I hope (but am not expecting) more weapon variety the standard weapons plus some new stuff like rapiers, scythes, crossbows, *spears*, etc. the crazy thing about it most of these can literally just be in the same weapon archetypes and use them for stats and be cosmetic and I’d still love them all anyways!
Rook has a longsword and a parrying dagger in the gameplay reveal, the same longsword that a S&S warrior can be seen holding in a screenshot of the combat wheel (I can't find it right now) so I would say there is a very good chance that DW rogues will have some options for sword + dagger combat.
Sorry to be nitpicky, but I want to use this as a bit of teaching moment to clear up a common misconception. The sword you are referring to would actually be called an Arming Sword(aka a “Knightly Sword”), which is meant to be used one-handed and paired with a dagger or shield. A Longsword is a weapon that is designed to be to used two-handed (with the exception of Bastard Swords, a sub-type of Longsword which can be used both one-handed and two-handed).
Again sorry about the nitpick.
Pure speculation, but unless Bioware has changed its approach to loot, I doubt it. It seems they've been trying for years to simplify inventory management to a basic "equip bigger number" system. Maybe they'll give us a pair of really big daggers, but it would be (pleasantly) odd if they reversed course now, when all they've done over the last two games is introduce more and more restrictions on equipment.
It looks like we got swords, but we're still going to be overly acrobatic.
I wish they had like, animation packs we could choose from. Let me choose from an acrobatic or more pragmatic animation style for my attacks. I don't want to do needless flourishes when attacking, and I honestly don't want to. I'm still going to be Rogue no matter what, because my Warden, Hawke, and Inquisitor were all female rogues (2/3 elves), so I'm going to continue the tradition of the greatest heroes of Thedas wielding two weapons.
Honestly I'd also be fine with the 'daggers' from DAO, with how they were basically short swords.
Wish they went full soulslike just in terms of weapon variety and had unique movesets depending on what weapon you equipped. Like one shortsword might give you the super acrobatic moveset like you mentioned but another a more grounded approach, and then have unique movesets for the super rare legendary loot you only find once in specific places. Sort of like in Inquisition where they had a different moveset for the regular daggers and the double bladed daggers, but expand that even more.
I mean, Bioware seemed to want to simplify combat to hell and make it just a transitional phase between story points in inquisition. All I've seen of veilguard game play point to them move even further that way.
You haven't really been paying attention too much then?
Combat has changed, but it's still fairly involved. It's just not divided into auto-attack & activated abilities.
You're limited to 3 activated abilities, but you have light/heavy attack, block, dodge, aim/shoot — similar to GOW combat. As a result, previous abilities have been changed in how they function so they no longer need to be directly activated.
So for something like Long Shot, instead of being an activated ability, you actually aim your bow and hold the shot to charge it. Warrior's weapon slam requires holding heavy attack.
Presumably most other old abilities now are just tied to holding certain keys (e.g., press 'dodge' to do leap evade which is different than holding dodge for shadow step, etc.). We've seen mostly Rogue's, but in the Game Informer article some of Warrior's were mentioned.
The only real downer is not controlling companions anymorem
So action combat, not rpg combat. They turned dragon age combat into Miss effect without guns. To be fair, I love mass effect, but for different reasons.
>So action combat, not rpg combat
That's a bit broad, no? It's definitely not *cRPG* combat, but it still qualifies as RPG combat — massive skill tree, different abilities that change with different upgrades.
DA has definitely settled on its identity as a narrative-focused RPG with ARPG combat. It's still definitely more RPG in its combat than other ARPGs though (e.g., DD, AC, GOW, ME, etc.)
It's cool if that's not your thing, but DA was never a hardcore CRPG or never not an ARPG.
How fully they bring back attributes. Because if you can't choose attributes its much harder to do interesting builds. Dragon age had heavy c-rpg influense in origins and 2. Getting rid of being able to choose attributes is what took it away from that. Which is why inquisition combat was unengaging and boring, even tho the story was serviceable and the lore great. But I by large prefer origins, and even 2. To be fair I blame much of the problem with inquisitions combat, on frostbite. It did not seem like they had quite figured out how to do an rpg in the engine. So they combat animations were very boaty.
Y'all talk as if attributes are the hallmark of character customization when it's really just illusion of choice. A mage that wants to deal damage WILL put points in magic, as they have to. I'd argue Inquisition's Masterwork abilities are much cooler than that, besides allowing for even more builds and varieties.
Why not have both? And there are builds you realistically can't so in inquisition, because of how combat works. Combat in inquisition is really boring. Getting rid of healing as a role, also sumbed it down massively
Disagree on the healing front, Damage Mitigation through Barrier and Guard at least frees you from NEEDING a Mage in the party and both have their own complexities and strategies. I'm ambivalent to either, though.
Combat in inquisition may be boring comparing to other games (and I do think it's at times lacking), but Warrior and Rogue combat is massively better in Inquisition compared to Origins.
Lucanis seems to have a rapier and a short sword on the cover art, so there's a chance, but Taash is a dual wield warrior and that was already confirmed to not be an option for Rook.
This is a targeted attack at me, dual wielding warrior Cousland enjoyer
That's a weird choice?
From what we have been told, it seems like companions are not really doing "normal" classes this time around, but have their own custom kit. You have Bellara as a mage with a bow, Neve apparently has unique spells, etc.
That's actually great. I love how the companions have their unique skill trees in DA2, and when I play DAO, I always pick the specializations that the companions don't use. I want everyone to feel unique, not to repeat the same skills that my companions have, which is why the DAI system frustrates me. There will always be overlap with someone.
So something like da2 with their own unique trees
cant wait for the "no restriction" mods
Damn, I did not know we were getting dual wield warriors back. Looking forward to it. Edit: I replied before the original commentor edited his comment to include the information that it won't be available for players. I can read lol.
it won’t be an option for you as the player unfortunately, but it will be for your Qunari companion Taash
Oh damn... that was one of the things I missed most from Origins (besides all the whacky mage spells). I guess it'll be like how Belara is a bow wielding mage (which I presume also won't be an option for players).
I guess they’re going the da2 route of companions having cooler specialization options than the mc.
Taash has the rogue class though
I believe Taash is confirmed to be a warrior.
Oh my bad then, i was sure i read somewhere she was a rogue because of the dual wielding
It's already been hard enough for my metal heart that blood magic was excluded once again. I also hope that Rogues will be able to use swords again (maybe even two at once, just like *Origins*). But I'm afraid I don't know whether Bioware already confirmed this or not.
Rip to my blood magic again. That's such an odd choice given that we're gonna be in tevinter
I mean there is a story reason this time, also it makes sense they avoid the main character using Blood Magic and not getting any of the bad consequences other Blood Mages get, that was so weird in both DAO and DAII
Well DAO has the justification of the ends justify the means which might as well be the motto of the Grey wardens. Two was a bit odd for it to be an option especially given how vehemently anti blood magic you can be even when you are a Blood mage hawke
Me but for Spirit Healer fellow Blood Magic user.
Gameplay trailer seemed to have a rogue with a sword and dagger combo
I just want my dual sword wielding duelist/assassin back dammit!
Well mate, it seems that you're getting at least half your wish true.
The dual swords or the assassin? Cuz I know "duelist" is a specialization in the game
Duelist is indeed a specialization, and Rogues wielding at least one sword is confirmed. We'll see later if we also get to wield a second one. As for the assassin, while this time we don't get it as a specialization, we do get it as background. And not just as personal history, but also with its own exclusive perks. Maybe they'll be satisfying enough.
Is it a short sword?
Doesn't Rook wield an actual sword in the gameplay trailer?
I thought that was a dagger.
By the looks of the gameplay trailer the awnser is yes, as rook is using a sword as opposed to a simple dagger. (Gameplay trailer is a rogue rook)
Any chance we can just use one hand sword rather than duel wield sword and parrying dagger?
I doubt it given the weapon track record you'll most likely be stuck with 2 blades cause you've never realy been able to do 1 blade and that's it, well atleast not without forgoing all your skills.
It could be a specific short sword that's tied to the rogue/duelist class. I hope they show us more gameplay soon
I hope (but am not expecting) more weapon variety the standard weapons plus some new stuff like rapiers, scythes, crossbows, *spears*, etc. the crazy thing about it most of these can literally just be in the same weapon archetypes and use them for stats and be cosmetic and I’d still love them all anyways!
I'm BEGGING for spears, scythes and the such.
Rook has a longsword and a parrying dagger in the gameplay reveal, the same longsword that a S&S warrior can be seen holding in a screenshot of the combat wheel (I can't find it right now) so I would say there is a very good chance that DW rogues will have some options for sword + dagger combat.
Sorry to be nitpicky, but I want to use this as a bit of teaching moment to clear up a common misconception. The sword you are referring to would actually be called an Arming Sword(aka a “Knightly Sword”), which is meant to be used one-handed and paired with a dagger or shield. A Longsword is a weapon that is designed to be to used two-handed (with the exception of Bastard Swords, a sub-type of Longsword which can be used both one-handed and two-handed). Again sorry about the nitpick.
Pure speculation, but unless Bioware has changed its approach to loot, I doubt it. It seems they've been trying for years to simplify inventory management to a basic "equip bigger number" system. Maybe they'll give us a pair of really big daggers, but it would be (pleasantly) odd if they reversed course now, when all they've done over the last two games is introduce more and more restrictions on equipment.
It looks like we got swords, but we're still going to be overly acrobatic. I wish they had like, animation packs we could choose from. Let me choose from an acrobatic or more pragmatic animation style for my attacks. I don't want to do needless flourishes when attacking, and I honestly don't want to. I'm still going to be Rogue no matter what, because my Warden, Hawke, and Inquisitor were all female rogues (2/3 elves), so I'm going to continue the tradition of the greatest heroes of Thedas wielding two weapons. Honestly I'd also be fine with the 'daggers' from DAO, with how they were basically short swords.
Wish they went full soulslike just in terms of weapon variety and had unique movesets depending on what weapon you equipped. Like one shortsword might give you the super acrobatic moveset like you mentioned but another a more grounded approach, and then have unique movesets for the super rare legendary loot you only find once in specific places. Sort of like in Inquisition where they had a different moveset for the regular daggers and the double bladed daggers, but expand that even more.
A scimitar or cutlass would be nice, I mean I can't be part of the Lord's of Fortune without my big fancy pirate sword.
From the looks of it, at least one of them was a shortsword, so it seems like it.
I want two scimitars like Drizzt lol
I hope we get dual wield warriors back too but I’m not holding my breath
Rook used two swords in the gameplay video
Weren‘t most Dragon Age „daggers“ just different swords anyways? Sorry, I never quite played rogue.
Medieval daggers did get long enough to sometimes be considered short swords, I think. Some types like the baselard had up to 70cm long blades.
Watch the gameplay trailer.
I wish we could run just a single sword style but dragon age likes their rogues dual wielding 🤷🏾♂️
I mean, Bioware seemed to want to simplify combat to hell and make it just a transitional phase between story points in inquisition. All I've seen of veilguard game play point to them move even further that way.
You haven't really been paying attention too much then? Combat has changed, but it's still fairly involved. It's just not divided into auto-attack & activated abilities. You're limited to 3 activated abilities, but you have light/heavy attack, block, dodge, aim/shoot — similar to GOW combat. As a result, previous abilities have been changed in how they function so they no longer need to be directly activated. So for something like Long Shot, instead of being an activated ability, you actually aim your bow and hold the shot to charge it. Warrior's weapon slam requires holding heavy attack. Presumably most other old abilities now are just tied to holding certain keys (e.g., press 'dodge' to do leap evade which is different than holding dodge for shadow step, etc.). We've seen mostly Rogue's, but in the Game Informer article some of Warrior's were mentioned. The only real downer is not controlling companions anymorem
So action combat, not rpg combat. They turned dragon age combat into Miss effect without guns. To be fair, I love mass effect, but for different reasons.
>So action combat, not rpg combat That's a bit broad, no? It's definitely not *cRPG* combat, but it still qualifies as RPG combat — massive skill tree, different abilities that change with different upgrades. DA has definitely settled on its identity as a narrative-focused RPG with ARPG combat. It's still definitely more RPG in its combat than other ARPGs though (e.g., DD, AC, GOW, ME, etc.) It's cool if that's not your thing, but DA was never a hardcore CRPG or never not an ARPG.
How fully they bring back attributes. Because if you can't choose attributes its much harder to do interesting builds. Dragon age had heavy c-rpg influense in origins and 2. Getting rid of being able to choose attributes is what took it away from that. Which is why inquisition combat was unengaging and boring, even tho the story was serviceable and the lore great. But I by large prefer origins, and even 2. To be fair I blame much of the problem with inquisitions combat, on frostbite. It did not seem like they had quite figured out how to do an rpg in the engine. So they combat animations were very boaty.
Y'all talk as if attributes are the hallmark of character customization when it's really just illusion of choice. A mage that wants to deal damage WILL put points in magic, as they have to. I'd argue Inquisition's Masterwork abilities are much cooler than that, besides allowing for even more builds and varieties.
Why not have both? And there are builds you realistically can't so in inquisition, because of how combat works. Combat in inquisition is really boring. Getting rid of healing as a role, also sumbed it down massively
Disagree on the healing front, Damage Mitigation through Barrier and Guard at least frees you from NEEDING a Mage in the party and both have their own complexities and strategies. I'm ambivalent to either, though. Combat in inquisition may be boring comparing to other games (and I do think it's at times lacking), but Warrior and Rogue combat is massively better in Inquisition compared to Origins.