Best Dragon Age: The Veilguard Veil Ranger Build

Discover how to create the best Veil Ranger build for Dragon Age the Veilguard, including faction, skills, companions, level progression, and more!

BioWare’s fourth installment of their hit series, Dragon Age the Veilguard, features deep character customization and build options. Players can earn skill points from level 1 to 50, selecting active, passive, traits, and ultimate abilities. Each protagonist, “Rook,” can bring two party members (companions) in exploration and combat, each with their own skills and equipment.

This guide will walk you through the best Veil Ranger builds in Dragon Age: The Veilguard and explain critical choices: factions, specialization, companies, skills, and more.

Everything About Veil Ranger Build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

The Veil Ranger build is quite possibly the strongest of the entire game when it comes to singular powerful attacks. A sniper build, utilizing the effects of shock damage to stagger and slow down the battlefield around us allowing for even more time to line up perfect headshot. Takes the abilities that deal electric damage on a battlefield.

Prioritize passives which increase projectile abilities as that will cover all the ones we’re using. Anything with the electric damage is the most thematically fitting to this build. The Veil Ranger build doesn’t deal with the highest damage and requires proper aiming in combat. Players who wish for electric-based abilities and nailing enemy weak points with simple shots, then this is the best build for you. 

Veil Ranger Build Pros	Veil Ranger Build Cons
Best Ranged Rogue	Requires Aiming
Electric Debuff	Specific Companion Synergy
Good Survivability	Medium Damage

Veil Ranger Build Features and Mechanics in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

The following list presents all the essential Veil Ranger Build Features and Mechanics in Dragon Age The Veilguard:

• Momentum: Rogue’s resource is generated when hitting targets but diminishes when you take damage.
• Bow: Secondary weapon that doesn’t require a bar swap but activation to use.
• Arrows: Limited resource used to fire your bow that regenerates love time.
• Weak Point: increase damage hitting an enemy at their weakest point, like the head.
• Faction: Veil Jumpers
• Race: Elf
• Active Skills
  • Ability 1: Reeling Bolt
  • Ability 2: Rain of Decay
  • Ability 3: Storm’s Path
    • Flex: Pilfer
• Ultimate: Twin Gifts of Arlathan
  • Flex: Concussive Barrage
• Trait: Evasion Maneuvers
• Specialization: Veil Ranger
• Best Companions: Davrin, Emmirch
• Runes: Overflow, Regroup, Crystallize

Bow

The Bow is your secondary weapon and, unlike other classes in Dragon Age, doesn’t require a bar swap to activate. Simply hold down your aim button and draw it back, and aim to hit a target. You can manually aim or press the button once to activate a quick shot. The benefit of aiming is that you can shoot the head, triggering weak point damage, which is sustainably more than a normal shot (roughly 4×0. However, that can be difficult than simply pressing the button once at range.

Weak Point

Hitting enemies in their weakest point (headshots) triggers weak point damage with double the size of text and purple. The easiest way to hit a weak point is using the bow via manually aiming at range, specifically for the head. Other enemies will have vulnerable points flashing like a dragon’s legs. Therefore, experiment with different enemy types and aim for weak point damage when you can.

Arrows

The Rogue’s secondary weapon bow uses arrows, which are an automatically replenishing consumable item found in the bottom middle section of your User Interface. By default, players have eight arrows to show, which regenerate quickly. Therefore, watch your arrows and take passives that help with regeneration or max capacity if you use the bow frequently.

Momentum

Momentum is the Rogue’s combat resource that increases when you hit an enemy and decreases when the enemy hits. You need momentum to use skills, and the User Interface pink resource builds over time. Once you reach a threshold of one momentum, a small circle will light up giving you an indication that your attack is able to be used. Additionally, some skills have a cooldown rather than a resource cost, so consider having a balance of momentum skills and cooldown.

Best Faction

Veil Jumpers is the best faction for a Veil Ranger build because the Keen Eye bonus provides increased critical and weak point damage. This bonus is optimal for high burst damage and fits the Rogue narrative if you prefer to be an explorer of ancient elven ruins.

Shadow Dragons is the secondary faction choice because the Resourceful bonus grants faster resource generation. The Shadow Dragons are also the healthy resistance and may fit an assassin-type character better than Veil Jumpers.

Below are all the bonuses for the Veil Jumpers and Shadow Dragons faction in Dragon Age the Veilguard:

Veil Jumpers Bonuses	Shadow Dragon Bonuses
Close to the Veil: gain reputation with the Veil Jumpers more quickly	Light in the Dark: gain reputation with the Shadow Dragons more quickly
Attuned Strikes: deal increased damage vs. Fade-Touched	Never to Rise: deal increased damage vs. Venatori
Keen Eye: deal slightly increased critical and weakpoint damage	Resourceful: your class-specific resource regenerates slightly faster

In Dragon Age: The Veilgaurd, factions are organizations that give you three bonuses in character creation and reputation when you ally with them as part of the larger conflict. There are six factions to choose from, and this choice cannot be changed once made. Faction reputation is used in the faction-specific stores to buy weapons and armor. Ultimately, players should select the faction of their choice based on story narrative vs. a small bonus in combat.

Best Race

Elf (Elves) is the best race for the Veil Ranger build, traditionally known to have strong connections with the Fade. Your race choice determines the story, dialogue choices, and how the world responds to you. Furthermore, you will not receive a combat bonus or be passive for a given race. Therefore, don’t let this selection be purely cosmetic and narrative, so feel free to deviate from our recommendation.

Four playable races are available in Dragon Age: The Veilguard: Elf, Qunari, Human, and Dwarf. Each of these races has a rich history and lore within Thedas. The Rogue class can choose any of the four, so make the selection depending on your ideal character narrative.

Best Skills and Abilities

Reeling Bolt, Rain of Decay, and Storm’s Path are the best skills for the Veil Ranger Build.

Reeling Bolt is a projectile tool-type ability that has a 60-second cooldown instead of spending momentum. Putting a cooldown-based ability with a resource-spending one means you will have something to cast when you run out of momentum. It deals electric damage and applies the weakened effect by firing out a special arrow. Deal Stagger and apply a shock to the primary target.

Rain of Decay is an area-of-effect ability that you can use against groups of enemies to his many of them with Necrotic damage over time. Storm’s Path is a skill from the Veil Ranger specialization that detonates overwhelmed, costing one momentum with AOE and electrical damage. Darvin’s ability Heroic Strike applies overwhelmed, which can be combo with Storm’s Path. Use Pifer until you reach level 20 and can select a specialization.

The best trait for the Veil Ranger build is the Evasion Maneuver because it launches a strong attack from an Extended Dodge, or when recovering from being Knocked Down. Use this trait for a counterattack after a long dodge.

The best ultimate for the Veil Ranger build is Twin Gifts of Arlathan. It throws out two entangled relic fragments that bounce between targets dealing electric damage on hit. It does not seem to do as much damage as some ultimates but it is a ranged set, forget, and highly disruptive, especially against a single target.

Below are the recommended skills, abilities, ultimate, and traits for the Veil Ranger build in Dragon Age the Veilguard:

• Abilities
  • Skill 1: Reeling Bolt
  • Skill 2: Rain of Decay
  • Skill 3: Storm’s Path
    • Flex: Pilfer
• Ultimate: Twin Gifts of Arlathan
  • Flex: Concussive Barrage
• Trait: Evasive Manuevers

Best Specialization

The Veil Ranger’s Build Unique ability and ultimate:

• Storm’s Path: An area projectile type ability that fires a powerful blast from your bow dealing electric damage in a line and detonating Overwhelmed.
• Twin Gifts of Arlathan: Throw two entangled relic fragments that rapidly bounce between targets dealing 1,980 electric damage.

Select one of three specializations from their class honeycomb skill tree starting at level 20.  Specializations are similar to “subclasses,” adding one ability, one ultimate, and a variety of other passives to your build and character. The specialization choice will be critical because it determines your character’s overall gameplay in combat. However, you can take part in the character screen at any time to redo your skills and specializations.

Level Progression

Our leveling progression section for the Veil Ranger build is to provide you with a step-by-step leveling guide, which skills to take, and why. However, this section is complex and requires many hours of gameplay. Therefore, this section will be a work in progress and will be updated and advanced more in the game.

In Dragon Age, the Veilguard, level progressions are gained through experience points (EXP) through different activities such as completing quests and defeating enemies. You reach a higher level at certain levels of EXP, rewarding you with a skill point.  The max level is 50, with 50 skill points to spend. The skill tree (honeycomb) comes in two main sections: Core class tree and specialization.

Complete a basic puzzle or interact with the altars to gain one skill point as a reward. You will gain 15 skill points by simply tracking down all 15 altars in the game. Unselect the purchased skills to refund individual skill points, which will not cost you anything. Once you reach a max level and get all the Fen’Harel altars then you will get a total of 67 skill points that help you to unlock 40-45% of the skill tree.

Each skill point can be spent on a variety of skills (abilities):

• Diamond Nodes: Active abilities, which you can slot three at a time
• Hexagonal: traits or passives.  Traits require a button combination to execute an additional ability, while passives give you a passive bonus.
• Circular Nodes: these are minor passives like small stat points. 

Levels 1 – 10

Here’s a list of skills to select from levels 1 to 10 with the Best Veil Ranger Build in Dragon Age The Veilguard:

Level	Skill	Tree	Type
1	Exploding Arrow	Center	Trait
2	Endure	Center	Greater Passive
3	Rain of Decay	Control	Ability
4	Evasive Maneuvers	Center	Trait
5	Powerful Rebuttal	Center	Greater Passive
6	Pilfer	Sustain	Ability
7	Salvage Arrows	Control	Trait
8	Bated Breath	Control	Passive
9	Determine	Control	Passive
10	Keen Eye	Control	Greater Passive

Skills: Static Strikes (applies weakened), Rain of Decay, Pilfer (detonates overwhelmed), Ultimate

Levels 11 – 20

Here’s a list of skills to select from levels 11 to 20 with the Best Veil Ranger Build in Dragon Age The Veilguard:

Level	Skill	Tree	Type
11	Burst of Speed	Control	Passive
12	Reeling Bolt	Control	Ability
13	Bulwark	Control	Passive
14	Amperage	Control	Passive
15	Precision Power	Control	Greater Passive
16	Pump the Primer	Control	Greater Passive
17	Salvage Arrows	Veil Jumper	Passive
18	Hunter’s Focus	Veil Jumper	Trait
19	Save
20	Twin Gifts of Arlathan Storm’s Path	Veil Ranger	Ultimate Ability Ability

Skills: Reeling Bolt, (applies weakened), Rain of Decay, Storm’s Path (detonates overwhelmed), Twin Gifts of Arlathan

Levels 21 – 30

Here’s a list of skills to select from levels 21 to 30 with the Best Veil Ranger Build in Dragon Age The Veilguard:

Level	Skill	Tree	Type
21	Shock Malady	Veil Ranger	Passive
22	Lighting Splash	Veil Ranger	Ability Upgrade
23	Amperage	Veil Ranger	Passive
24	Compound Bow	Veil Ranger	Ability Upgrade
25	A Timely Defense	Control	Ability Upgrade
26	Collateral Damage	Control	Ability Upgrade
27	Heartseeker	Control	Ability Upgrade
28	Marked Target	Control	Ability Upgrade
29	Save
30	Archer’s Rhythm Sniper Triumph	Veil Ranger	Trait Trait

Skills: Reeling Bolt, (applies weakened), Rain of Decay, Storm’s Path (Detonate overwhelmed), Twin Gifts of Arlathan

Best Companions

Davrin is the best companion for a Veil Ranger build because it keeps the enemies taunted and stunned. Davrin is described as bold and charming. His Valaslin indicates his origin is in one of the Dalish elves’ clans, which he left to become a Grey Warden. Bring him to your party if you’re not playing a Warrior and want support. This companion is a warrior and, more specifically, a sword and board warrior, so if you want someone to tank and absorb damage, then this is your man.

The secondary option for the best Companion is Emmrich. Emmrich fills the role of range DPS with a powerful healing ability called Replenish. Moreover, Emmrich can snare, stagger, slow time, and apply weakened while detonating sundered. Emmrich revolves around dealing damage to enemies from a distance. With his necromancy spells and the ability to cast control magic, the players can deal potential damage to the enemies. Emmrich is a great support character and his powers synergize greatly with a Melee DPS build for your character.

Companion 1: Davrin

• Active Skills and Abilities
  • Ability 1: Battle Cry (Taunt)
  • Ability 2: Death From Above
  • Ability 3: Heroic Strike
    • Flex: In War, Victory
• Primer Ability: Heroic Strike (Overwhelm)
• Detonator Ability: Death From Above (Weakened)

Companion 2: Emmrich

• Active Skills and Abilities
  • Ability 1: Final Rites
  • Ability 2: Entangling Spirits
  • Ability 3: Replenish (heal)
• Primer Ability: Entangling Spirits (applies Weakened)
• Detonator Ability: Final Rites (Sundered)

Best Veil Ranger Equipment, Items, Weapons

The section is a work in progress during the release week of the game.

Gear Slot	Best Item	Best Stats	Best Properties
Main Hand	Balanced Epee	25%	Damage vs. Mages for the entire party + applies Bleeding vs. Mages
Off-Hand	Treasure	25%	Taash gains Weapon damage
Alternate Weapon	Concentration	25%	Electric Vulnerability becomes more effective
Helmet	Carastes Double-Hat	15% + 25% + 25%	Momentum Generated + Ability cost refunded + Stagger during ability use
Belt	Warden’s Straps	12% + 15%	radius of Potion effect + Fire damage
Amulet	Warden’s Key	10% + 10%	Resistant duration + Resistant effectiveness
Ring 1	Amaranthine Loop	25% + 25% + 25%	Stagger + Staggered Duration + Takedown damage
Ring 2	Band of Smoke	15% + 25% + 20%	Cold damage + Cold Resistance + Cold Ability damage

Best Runes

The best Runes for the Veil Ranger build in Dragon Age the Veilguard is Regroup because it refreshes your companion’s ability to cool down instantly. This allows you to either heal or produce multiple combos and detonations quickly. While there are other great Runes, having back-to-back healing, combos, or detonations with a short cooldown makes it the strongest.

Below are the recommended Runes for the Veil Ranger build in DA:V:

• Overflow: increases potions by +1.
• Regroup: all companion’s cooldowns are refreshed.
• Crystallized: all enemies in 10 meters are frozen.

Build Summary – Veil Ranger

FAQs About Veil Ranger Build in Dragon Age The Veilguard

Question 1: What faction should I pick for a Veil Ranger build?

Answer: Veil Jumpers and Shadow Dragons are the best factions to choose for the Veil Ranger build due to the Ankle Strike bonus from Veil Jumper and the Never To Rise bonus from Shadow Dragons because they highly impact in combat.

Question 2: Does race matter in Dragon Age the Veilguard?

Answer: Race is a part of Rook’s identity as their Dragon Age class or faction, and their ancestry can affect dialogue choices in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The selection of race to play will also determine the story and how the world at large responds to you.

Question 3: Can builds be changed in Dragon Age the Veilguard?

Answer: There are certain things like appearance that you can change. However, you are unable to change the faction after picking up one and you can change the specialization but not the class.

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• Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Backgrounds (Factions) Explained
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard – All Companions and Everything We Know
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard Classes and Specializations
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard – All Playable Races