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Find out which powerful companion in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the best party member for taking on the tank role.
As the fourth installment into BioWare’s immensely popular Dragon Age franchise, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a ten-year sequel to Inquisition. There are some returning faces, but most of the companions you gather to your cause will be new. Playing as the protagonist, Rook, there are a total of seven companions you will need to gather in your fight to save Thedas. Each companion comes with their own class and background, with the Warrior class most suitably fitting the traditional tank role for your active party of three. In the following guide, we’ll cover how tanks work in the game, which companions can be tanks, and who the best tank companion is in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
How Tanks Work in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
The primary way tanks work in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is by drawing aggro so that enemies focus their attacks on the tank and not you. This is incredibly vital in Veilguard because otherwise enemies will mostly be drawn to your Rook character on the battlefield. Moreover, during combat, your companions do not have health bars and cannot die or be knocked out.
Out of the seven companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, two are Warriors and have tank capabilities. Davrin is a Grey Warden who fights with a sword and shield, while Taash is a Qunari dragon hunter who duel-wields large axes. Each of them has a single ability that can produce a taunt, forcing nearby enemies to attack them for a limited amount of time. This ability must be placed on their active skill bar, and the best way to use it is by pulling up the tactical HUD during combat and activating it on your companion’s skill bar yourself.
Best Tank Companions Ranked in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
The best tank companion in Dragon Age the Veilguard is Davrin because of his defensive capabilities. The second-best tank is Taash, who has more offensive capabilities while still being able to taunt. The following ranking assumes that you have chosen the Mage or Rogue class for your Rook character. If you are playing as a Warrior, then the class skill tree will give you more defensive passives, along with a shield you can effectively use to block attacks. Moreover, the shield can even be used offensively with a toss.
The best tank companion in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is:
- Davrin
- Taash
The sword and shield-wielding Davrin takes the top spot on our best tank companion list because he fits the traditional tank role perfectly. Sword and shield builds are made to pull aggro, take hits, and protect the other party members. Taash can do some of this as well, but her overall skill set is geared more toward offense than defense.
Therefore, Davrin would generally be the best tank option if you are playing as a Mage or Rogue. However, Taash would make a powerful damage dealer/off-tank for a Warrior Rook looking for additional muscle.
How to Use Davrin as a Tank In Veilguard
To use Davrin as a tank in Dragon Age: The Veilguard you must have his ability called Battle Cry on this active skill bar. Pause combat by pulling up the tactical HUD and activating Battle Cry to trigger the taunt. However, be aware that this ability will not work on some of the strongest boss enemies. In those rare cases where a taunt doesn’t work, you may have to focus on boosting your own defenses and health, along with equipping crowd control abilities on both your Rook and your companions.
The most important passive to unlock is Overprotective because it triggers invulnerability on Rook automatically. This is helpful if you take a massive chunk of life and are about to die, preventing instant death and allowing the use of potions and Runes to recover.
Here are all the possible skill upgrades for the Battle Cry ability:
- Breathing Room (Greater Passive) – Gain 50 health a second during active taunt
- Overprotective (Ability Upgrade) – When you are at low health, Battle Cry automatically triggers if you are not on cooldown.
- Next, choose between:
- Quick to Anger (Ability Upgrade) – Cooldown Duration -20%
- Echo (Ability Upgrade) – Effective radius +100%
- Lasting Words (Passive) – Duration +50%
- Brawler (Greater Passive) – For each enemy taunted, Davrin gains +10 damage
- Finally, choose between:
- Piercing Cry (Ability Upgrade) – 300 Physical damage to taunted enemies
- Searing Rage (Ability Upgrade) – Taunted enemies take 40 fire damage a second
Finally, you can also equip the Regroup rune to the lyrium dagger your Rook holds. This rune resets the cooldowns on all of your companions, meaning that you could use this to trigger another Battle Cry if you get into trouble.
Davrin Equipment that Boosts Taunt
While none of Davrin’s armor sets can modify the effectiveness of his taunt, they have a possible shield and trinket you can equip that will boost his taunt. The best gear piece is the Sharpened Hook Knife trinket. Once it has been increased to the Epic level, you will unlock the final trait bonus which increases the Battle Cry taunt duration by 25%. Combine this with the Quick to Anger ability upgrade and the cooldown on Battle Cray will be closer to 16 seconds instead of 28.
Here are all of the recommended gear pieces for increasing Davrin’s Battle Cry ability:
- Reforged Bulwark – Shield
- Attack My Target applies Taunted
- Davrin deals +50% stagger to taunted enemies
- Sharpened Hook Knife – Trinket
- +25% damage to taunted enemies
- +25% taunt duration
How to Use Taash as a Tank In Veilguard
To use Taash as a tank in Dragon Age: The Veilguard you must have the ability called Dragon’s Roar on her active skill bar. When you activate Dragon’s Roar, Taash will taunt all of the enemies in a nearby area. The tooltip does not detail the actual radius of the effect, but it does say that this ability will not work on some of the strongest boss enemies. However, a taunt is still going to be incredibly useful for you during large fights with waves of enemies that will keep your ranged fighter constantly dodging.
Here are all the possible skill upgrades for the Dragon’s Roar ability:
- Quick to Anger (Passive) – Cooldown Duration -20%
- Goad (Greater Passive) – Taunted enemies take 10% more damage
- Next, choose between:
- Enraged (Ability Upgrade) – Duration +50%
- Shouting Taunt (Ability Upgrade) – Effective radius +100%
- Inspiring Roar (Greater Passive) – Regen health while taunt is active
- Flaming Roar (Greater Passive) – 300 Fire damage to all affected enemies
- Finally, choose between:
- Insult to Injury (Ability Upgrade) – Adds 1 stack to any active Affliction
- Look Out Below (Ability Upgrade) – On hit, you gain Deflect
If you are having trouble keeping enemies off you, the best way to play with Taash as a tank would be to stick close to them in battle. Activate the Dragon’s Roar ability as often as possible. You can increase its up-time by unlocking the first passive Quick to Anger and then the Ability upgrade Enraged. This will increase the ability’s duration, while also lowering the cooldown time.
Additionally, you can also equip the Regroup rune to the lyrium dagger your Rook holds. This rune resets the cooldowns on all of your companions, meaning that you could use this to trigger another Dragon’s Roar in a tight spot.
Taash Equipment that Boosts Taunt
While none of the armor sets available to Taash can modify the effectiveness of their taunt, they have two axes that can influence the effects of Dragon’s Roar. Tusk of Glory is particularly helpful because you can apply a taunt to at least one enemy while Dragon’s Roar is still on cooldown. Trigger this effect by using the ‘Attack My Target’ icon at the top of the tactical HUD menu. Make sure you have the enemy you want Taash to attack selected on the screen, and then click the button.
Here are all of the recommended gear pieces for increasing Taash’s Dragon’s Roar ability:
- Tusk of Glory – Main-Hand Weapon
- Attack My Target applies Taunted
- Taash deals +50% damage to taunted enemies
- Viridian Tusk – Off-Hand Weapon
- Taunted dragons take +50% damage
- Applying Taunted to dragons deals 400 damage
FAQs About Tank Companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Q1: Can the Mage or Rogue class act as tanks in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
Answer: No, the Mage and Rogue classes will not make good tanks in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Their skill sets do not include any taunt abilities, they typically do not have higher defensive and health stats, and most of their skill tree passives are geared toward damage boosts. It’s possible that on lower levels of difficulty, you could use crowd control abilities on a Mage or Rogue to play like a tank, but without a taunt, they wouldn’t truly fit the role.
Q2: Do you have to use a tank companion in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
Answer: If you are not playing as a Warrior class Rook, then yes, you will want to use a tank companion in all the major fights in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Especially at higher difficulty settings, a tank with a working taunt will almost be required. On the other hand, at very low difficulty settings this choice will likely not be as critical.
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