Best Ice Mage Build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Discover how to create the best Ice Mage build for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, including 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 Ice Mage build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard and explain critical choices: factions, specialization, companies, skills, and more.

Everything About Ice Mage Build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

In Dragon Age: the Veilguard, the Mage class is a versatile ranged caster who can stop enemies in their tracks with powerful freezing ice spells. With the Mage class, when you start leveling you will likely equip traditional weapons such as staves and scepters. Moreover, in The Veilguard, the Mage class will now have the ability to swap weapons, opening up a whole range of combat opportunities and playstyles.

However, this complexity of gameplay could be frustrating for some players. A Mage will have to be mobile, constantly on the move. Also, having a normally physically weaker class dart in for dagger strikes can be risky because your suriviability is lower. If you mistime your hit and get caught with a heavy blow, it could be a quick game over.

Furthermore, this build will use the Evoker class specialization which is next to the Control section of the Mage skill tree. The Control section is all about using crowd control abilities as both defense and damage against your enemies. All of the active abilities inside this section are ice-based, and make perfect choices for a powerful Ice Mage build.

Ice Mage Build Pros	Ice Mage Build Cons
Powerful Ice Abilities	Weakness to Cold Resistant Enemies
AOE Damage	Mana Dependent
Range	Low Survivability

Ice Mage Build Features and Mechanics in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

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

• Arcane Bomb: Arcane Mark builds up over time when you perform Light Attacks with your Orb. It turns into Arcane Bomb, which can be triggered by Heavy Attacks.
• Mana: Mana is the Mage class specific resource that generates automatically overtime.
• Block: Successful blocks will cost the Mage some of their Mana resource, which can get eaten up quickly.
• Heavy Attack: Shot a bolt of energy at your enemy, also used to trigger Arcane Bombs.
• Faction: Shadow Dragons
• Race: Elf
• Active Skills
  • Ability 1: Dark Squall
  • Ability 2: Frost Nova
  • Ability 3: Entropic Sphere
• Ultimate: Vortex of Shadow
• Specialization: Evoker
• Best Companions: Davrin, Bellara
• Runes
  • Vivify
  • Surge
  • Overflow

Best Faction

The best faction for the Ice Mage build is Shadow Dragons because the Resourceful bonus grants you faster resource generation. This is a use bonus for any class but is highly recommended for mages with high-damage abilities. You will need a lot of Mana to cast your strongest abilitites.

A A secondary choice is The Mourn Watch, because of the Acute Afflictions bonus that allows you to apply an additional affliction stack on targets. A mage build can especially benefit from this by using various elemental spells that can inflict Shocked or Chilled. Additionally, various abilities can also inflict Overwhelmed and Weakened, which can then be detonated by companions.

Below are all the bonuses for the Shadow Dragons and Mourn Watch factions in Dragon Age the Veilguard:

Shadow Dragon Bonuses	The Mourn Watch Bonuses
Light in the Dark: gain reputation with the Shadow Dragons more quickly	Recognized Name: Gain reputation with the Mourn Watchers more quickly
Never to Rise: deal increased damage vs. Venatori	Return to the Grave: Deal increased damage vs. Undead and Demons
Resourceful: your class-specific resource regenerates slightly faster	Acute Afflictions: You can apply an additional affliction stack on targets

Best Race

The best race for the Ice Mage build is Elf (Elves) because of their naturally strong connection to the Fade. The Elven people in the current Dragon Age games are descended from a formally powerful civilization that had once contained magical wonders beyond imaging. Even so many years since it’s destruction, the lineage of the Elves still makes them formidable Mages.

Your best secondary choice for race is Humans. Humans are the most versatile race in Thedas, capable of being powerful warriors, cunning rogues, or adept mages.

In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, your choice of race will be mostly based on your roleplay choices, as well as what you like the look of best. In The Veilguard, no stat bonuses are connected to the individual races. Therefore, your race choice largely influences the story, dialogue choices, and how the world responds to you.

Finally, the Dwarven race is the one exception to the rule of ‘any race, any class’ in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. If you wish to play as a Dwarf, you cannot choose the Mage class. This is due to the lore and history of the Dwarven race, where they cannot dream and lack any magical ability.

Best Skills and Abilities

The best Ice Mage skills in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are Dark Squall, Frost Nova, and Entropic Sphere.

Entropic Sphere is one of the class specialization skills available to Evokers. This is an area projectile type ability that launches a sphere of energy that damages all enemies for cold damage in a path and then explodes at its end. It weakens targets hit and seems to pull enemies towards it.

Dark Squall is another projectile spell that you can use as a crowd control skill. When it hits, it will knock back your enemy, and it is a great way to get an attacking enemy away from you. It does not have a Mana cost but has a long cooldown of 60 seconds. Therefore, you’ll need to make strategic choices about when to use it.

Frost Nova is another fantastic crowd control skill that bursts and area of frozen ground around you. This will inflict any enemy standing inside of it with Frozen and will freeze them in place so you and your companions can get in some easy DPS. However, you should grab the Wall of Fire ability when you have the extra skill points. Swap this out for Frost Nova whenever you face enemies resistant to cold damage.

Below are the recommended skills, abilities, ultimate, and trait for an Ice Mage build in Dragon Age the Veilguard:

• Abilities
  • Skill 1: Dark Squall
  • Skill 2: Frost Nova
  • Skill 3: Entropic Sphere
• Ultimate: Vortex of Shadow

Best Specialization

The best Ice Mage specialization is the Evoker, which is all about controlling the battlefield at range. The Evoker’s ability and ultimate are essential elements of this build, providing you with crowd control that will help keep enemies off of you. The Evoker’s build unique ability and ultimate:

• Entropic Sphere: Launches a sphere of entropic energy toward enemies dealing damage in its path and explodes at the end.
• Vortex of Shadow: It summons a black hole and deals less damage than other ultimates over time but it also pulls enemies into it setting them up for any AOE combos.

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

Level Progression

The premise of our leveling progression section for the Ice Mage build is to give you 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 advance 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 earn 15 skill points by 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, you will get a total of 67 skill points that help you unlock 40-45% of the skill tree.

Levels 1 – 10

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

Level	Skill	Tree	Type
1	Mortal Concentration	Core	Trait
2	Charging Spirit	Core	Trait
3	Frost Nova	Control	Ability
4	Frostbite	Control	Passive
5	Frost Shield	Control	Greater Passive
6	Shellbreaker	Shadow Dragons	Passive
7	Imbued Takedown	Shadow Dragons	Greater Passive
8	Underestimated	Shadow Dragons	Passive
9	Dark Squall	Shadow Dragons	Ability
10	Meditation	Shadow Dragons	Passive

Skills at level 10: Arcane Shot, Frost Nova, Dark Squall, and Destructive Light (Ultimate).

Levels 11 – 20

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

Level	Skill	Tree	Type
11	Light Armor Mastery	Shadow Dragons	Greater Passive
12	Defy the Elements	Shadow Dragons	Passive
13	Bolt Volley	Shadow Dragons	Trait
14	Keen Insight	Shadow Dragons	Ability Upgrade
15	Super Charged	Shadow Dragons	Ability Upgrade
16	Elemental Catalyst	Burst	Greater Passive
17	Fade Conduit	Burst	Passive
18	Downfall	Sustain	Greater Passive
19	Wall of Fire	Sustain	Ability
20	Vortex of Shadow Entropic Sphere	Evoker	Ultimate Ability

Skills at level 20: Dark Squall, Frost Nova, Entropic Sphere, and Vortex of Shadow (Ultimate).

However, be aware that a focus on ice spells and cold weapons can make you weak against Cold-resistant enemies. If you have extra skill points, consider unlocking Wall of Fire or Chain Lighting as flex abilities to switch in on your bar when needed.

Levels 21 – 30

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

Level	Skill	Tree	Type
21	Ice Storm	Evoker	Passive
22	Two Fires	Evoker	Ability Upgrade
23	Heavy Weaponry	Evoker	Passive
24	Controlled Infusion	Evoker	Ability Upgrade
25	Early Frost	Shadow Dragon	Passive
26	Mana Infusion	Control	Greater Passive
27	Meditation	Control	Passive
28	Absorb	Control	Greater Passive
29	Improved Health	Control	Passive
30	Onslaught	Evoker	Trait

Skills at level 30: Arcane Shot, Tempest, Entropic Sphere, Vortex of Shadow (Ultimate)

Now that you’ve reach Level 30, you should have most of the vital active abilities and passives that your Ice build requires. From here on out you should be able to make your own choices on the Mage skill tree. Overall, you should focus on passives that boost regeneration and damage from levels 31-50. Stick to the Control section of the skill tree before branching out. There are a lot of passives here that can boost your control damage or increase Chill stacks.

Best Companions

The best companions for a Ice Mage build are Davrin and Bellara because of their potential combos, powerful crowd control, and healing abilities. Davrin can play defense for your whole party by using the skill Battle Cry to taunt enemies and keep pressure off of you. Additionally, his skill ‘Death From Above’ can combo with your application of Weakend (Entropic Sphere) for a powerful hit. A secondary choice is the Qunari Taash, who can also detonate Weakened with her Dragonfire Strike ability.

Although using Bellara means doubling up on the Mage class in your party, she brings with her two incredibly useful crowd control abilities along with a heal. Time Stop is an ability that makes all of the Mage companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard infinitely valuable. The addition of the Galvanized Tear ability is a cast similar to your own ultimate, with a center force that will pull enemies in for easy, concentrated DPS. Finally, her Replenish ability will give you another avenue for healing, increasing your survivability.

Companion 1: Davrin

• Active Skills and Abilities
  • Ability 1: Death From Above
  • Ability 2: Battle Cry
  • Ability 3: In War Victory

Companion 2: Bellara

• Active Skills and Abilities
  • Ability 1: Replinesh
  • Ability 2: Time Stop
  • Ability 3: Galvanized Tear

Best Ice Mage Equipment, Items, Weapons

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

Gear Slot	Best Item	Best Upgrades
Main Hand	Chilled Grasp	Defense vs Chilled Enemies
Off-Hand	Timeworn Mageknife	Health on Arcane Bomb trigger
Alternate Weapon	Glacial Rod	+2 Chilled Stacks
Helmet	Carastes Double-Hat	Mana Regen
Armor	Dalish Wraps	Mana Regen
Belt	Golden Halla Sash	Healing
Amulet	Sightless Skull	Boosts Control Abilties
Ring 1	Glacial Talus	Mana Regen
Ring 2	Band of Smoke	Cold Damage

Best Runes

The best Rune for the Ice Mage build in Dragon Age the Veilguard is Surge because it has both an active and passive trait that greatly boost your mana regen. Furthermore, the Vivify not only passively boosts your mana regeneration but triggers the active effect that will instantly restore all of your ability cooldowns. Additionally, using your next ability is free.

Finally, the Overflow rune is a great choice for survivability, with a great passive that increases the amount of potions you can carry by one. However, if you are looking for a flex rune, Regroup is good second choice. It refreshes your companion’s ability cooldowns instantly. Consequently, this allows you to either heal or produce multiple combos and detonations quickly. Glaciate is also a third possible choice, as this will boost your ice mage’s cold damage.

The best runes for an Ice Mage build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are:

1. Vivify
2. Surge
3. Overflow

Build Summary – Ice Mage

FAQs About Ice Mage Build in Dragon Age The Veilguard

Question 1: What faction should I pick for an Ice Mage build?

Answer: The Shadow Dragons are the best choice for an Ice Mage build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard because of their unique passive that increases the regeneration rate of your Mana. This is crucial for a build that will use all abilities which require a high Mana cost.

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

Answer: In Dragon Age: The Veilguard your race choice matters for dialogue options and story interactions as you play. There are no stat boosts associated with races in this game, therefore your choice does not make any difference to your power level, mana, or casts.

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

Answer: Yes, all builds can easily be changed in Dragon Age: The Veilguard by simply opening up the skill tree and clicking the ‘Reset’ button down at the bottom left of the screen. This will refund all of your spent skill points and you can redistribute them however you like at any time.

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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