Best Warrior Tank Build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Discover how to create the best Warrior Tank 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 Warrior Tank builds in Dragon Age: The Veilguard and explain critical choices: factions, specialization, companies, skills, and more.

Everything About Warrior Tank Build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

The Warrior Tank is all about dealing damage to enemies in close quarters while tanking the incoming hits using the shield. Moreover, its abilities and playstyle revolve around crowd-controlling the enemies to unleash the attacks on them, possibly hitting multiple enemies at once. One of the best things about this ability is high survivability due to the Reaper Specialization. It can siphon off healing from enemies while doing damage. Last but not least, this build aims to create too much rage and deal massive damage by spamming the abilities.

However, the base damage of this build is slightly lower than other Warrior builds like DPS. Moreover, your overall movement speed will be slower but it won’t affect any of your blocking and dodging actions unless your input is delayed. The best way to tackle the lacks in this build is to team up with companions who can perform priming and detonating ability combos to give you further support on the battle grounds.

This build is recommended for players who want to stand their ground during close range encounters with high survivability.

Warrior Tank Build Pros	Warrior Tank Build Cons
Survival	Lower Damage
Crowd Control	Slow Movement
Self-healing	Companion Dependent

Warrior Tank build Features and Mechanics in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

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

• Blocking: timing the yellow halo can reward players with a perfect defensive.
• Rage: a resource for Warrior gained by doing damage, lost when taking damage.
• Shield Throw: Range throw on a short cooldown.
• Faction: Grey Wardens
• Race: Human
• Active Skills
  • Ability 1: Spectral Bulwark
  • Ability 2: Reaper
  • Ability 3: Grappling Spear
• Ultimate: Spirit Storm
• Specialization: Reaper
• Best Companions: Emmrich and Harding
• Runes
  • Fortify
  • Mend
  • Ravage

Best Faction

The best faction for Warrior Tank build is the Grey Wardens because of the Vigilant Training passive, increasing base defense and health. Additionally, the Grey Wardens gain increased damage vs. darkspawn and fit the narrative of a heroic warrior battling monsters.

A secondary choice is the Lords of Fortune because their Relentless bonus increases takedowns (stuns). The Lords of Fortune factions are adventurous treasure hunters and fit a character’s background who loves exploration, looting, and fighting monsters.

Below are all the bonuses for the Grey Wardens and Lords of Fortune factions in Dragon Age the Veilguard:

Grey Wardens Bonuses	Lords of Fortune Bonuses
Bonded in Blood: Gain reputation with the Grey Wardens more quickly	Together in Glory: Gain reputation with the Lords of Fortune more quickly
Blight Killer: Deal increased damage vs. darkspawn	Healthy Competition: Deal increased damage vs. mercenaries
Vigilant Training: Base defense and health are slightly increased	Relentless: Perform takedowns on enemies with slightly less effort

Best Race

The best race for the Warrior Tank build is humans because of their widespread population, political dominance, and history in Thedas. Humans are traditionally Warriors and Mages in the series and fit nicely with the Shadow Dragon’s faction choice, providing a solid RPG character foundation. The second choice would be the Qunari, who look physically daunting and are skilled in martial arts. Qunari are a race governed by the Qun code, dedicating their lives to discipline.

Your race choice largely influences the story, dialogue choices, and how the world responds to you. There are four playable races in Dragon Age: The Veilguard: Elf, Qunari, Human, and Dwarf. Each of these races has a rich history and lore within Thedas. Your race choice largely influences the story, dialogue choices, and how the world responds to you. Furthermore, you will not receive a combat bonus or passive for a given race. Your race selection is purely cosmetic and narrative, so feel free to deviate from our recommendation.

Best Skills and Abilities

Spectral Bulwark, Reaper, and Grappling Spear are the best skills for a Warrior Tank build.

Spectral Bulwark

The skill Spectral Bulwark is a smash duration type ability that increases your defense by 50%. While active, it hones your guard and deals Necrotic Damage to enemies who attack you during the ability duration. Moreover, it inflicts high stagger on enemies when they take damage.

Reaper

Reaper is a strike and duration type skill that deals Necrotic Damage to enemies by slashing the enemies. It costs two Rage pips to activate and detonates the Weakened effect. Moreover, it inflicts enemies with the Siphon effect that heals you while doing damage, giving you incredible survivability. You can create a combo of this ability by using Emmrich’s Entangling Spirits to apply the Weakened effect and then use the Reaper ability to detonate the Weakened effect.

Grappling Spear

Grappling Spear is a projectile control ability with a 60-second cooldown. It launches off a spear at range that deals fire damage and then pulls the target towards you. Moreover, it applies the Overwhelmed effect which you can detonate using Harding’s Heavy Draw ability.

Best Trait and Ultimate

The best trait that you can use for the Warrior Tank is the Master Throw. Charge your shield to get an additional level for the shield to charge. Once the shield has charged for two levels, release the respective button to throw the shield at the enemy to deal devastating damage from a distance.

The best ultimate ability for the Warrior Tank is Spirit Storm which creates a whirlwind of Necrotic energy in front of you. It deals with Necrotic damage and applies the siphon effect, which deals with damage over time and restores your health.

Below are the recommended skills, abilities, ultimate, and trait for Warrior Tank build in Dragon Age the Veilguard:

• Abilities
  • Skill 1: Spectral Bulwark
  • Skill 2: Reaper
  • Skill 3: Grappling Spear
• Ultimate: Spirit Storm
• Best Trait: Master Throw

Best Specialization

The Reaper specialization is the best for survivability and damage especially if you want additional range options with the Shield Throw. You can unlock this spec at level 20. Ideally, you want two extra skill points at level 20 so you can take the ultimate and skill immediately. You will reach barriers for skills at levels 30 and 40. Also, avoid the Reckless Shot upgrade as it will ruin your survivability.

The Reaper’s unique ability and ultimate:

• Reaper (Ability)- It calls forth a scythe that slashes in front of you dealing Necrotic damage, detonating the weakened effect, and siphoned effect as well.
• Spirit Storm (Ultimate)- Creates a whirlwind of Necrotic energy in front of you. It deals Necrotic damage and applies the siphon effect which is a damage over time that restores your health.

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 Warrior Tank 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 Warrior Tank Build in Dragon Age The Veilguard:

Level	Skill	Tree	Type
1	Shield Volley	Core	Trait
2	Rancor	Core	Greater Passive
3	Spectral Bulwark	Abilities	Ability
4	Enraged	Abilities	Passive
5	Focused Retaliation	Core	Greater Passive
6	Titan Stomp	Survival	Ability
7	Improved Throw	Survival	Passive
8	Return to Sender	Survival	Trait
9	Necessary Steps	Survival	Passive
10	Masochism	Survival	Greater Passive

Skills at level 10: Spectral Bulwark, Driving Kick, Titan Stomp, and Flashing Fist (Ultimate)

Levels 11 – 20

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

Level	Skill	Tree	Type
11	Improved Health	Survival	Passive
12	Groundbreaker	Survival	Ability
13	Traumatize	Survival	Passive
14	Ready Guard	Survival	Greater Passive
15	Slam	Survival	Greater Passive
16	Defy The Elements	Mourn Watch	Passive
17	Bloody Advance	Mourn Watch	Ability
18	Master Throw	Mourn Watch	Trait
19	Save	–	–
20	Reaper Specialization, Spirit Storm, and Reaper	Reaper	–

Skills at level 20: Spectral Bulwark, Reaper, Titan Stomp, and Spirit Storm (Ultimate)

Levels 21 – 30

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

Level	Skill	Tree	Type
21	Death’s Blessing	Reaper	Passive
22	Devastation	Reaper	Passive
23	Refract	Survival	Passive
24	Third Degree	Survival	Passive
25	Pump the Primer	Survival	Greater Passive
26	Arcane Defiance	Grey Wardens	Passive
27	Grappling Spear	Grey Wardens	Ability
28	Heavy Hitter	Grey Wardens	Passive
29	Fiery Resolve	Grey Wardens	Greater Passive
30	Death’s Throw	Reaper	Trait

Skills at level 30: Reaper, Grappling Spear, Spectral Bulwark, and Spirit Storm (Ultimate)

For levels 30 to 50, you need to focus on boosting your regeneration and damage. Enraged is a passive that is used for Rage generation up to 10%. Traumatize for Takedown damage up to 15%. Depth of Fury increases the maximum Rage by 50. Desolate Malady boost Affliction damage +10%. Staggering Finale increases the Stagger from Final attacks by 20%. Increase your Critical damage by +10% with Wrath. Acquire Invigoration to increase the Leech effectiveness by 20%. Last but not least, equip Living Decay to deal 50% Penetration with Necrotic Damage and restore 2% of health.

Best Companions

Emmrich and Lace Harding are the best companions for the Warrior Tank build because of their priming and detonating skill combos. Emmrich is a Mage necromancer who deals Necrotic Damage, applies the Weakened effect, and detonates the Sundered effect. Harding is a Rogue character who deals with Physical Damage, applies the Sundered effect, and detonates the Overwhelmed effect. Moreover, Emmrich can slow down the time for enemies, which allows you to continue dealing with damage to enemies at a normal pace. Harding applies buffs to Rook’s attacks for enhanced damage. Last but not least, both of these companions have healing abilities that can instantly heal Rook. However, take skills that heal and trigger combos for the best party composition.

Emmrich has a staff during his companion quest that can boost vulnerability to Necrotic damage. This is essential for fighting enemies who are resistant to Necrotic damage, which is the majority of creatures in the game.

Companion 1: Emmrich Volkarin

• Active Skills and Abilities
  • Ability 1: Entangling Spirits
  • Ability 2: Final Rites
  • Ability 3: Replenish
• Main Hand Weapon: The Hermetic Pendulum
• Armor: Funeral Finery
• Keepsake: Metal-Plated Focus
• Trinket: Chittering Signet
• Primer Ability: Entangling Spirits (for applying Weakened)
• Detonator Ability: Final Rites (for detonating Sundered)

Companion 2: Lace Harding

• Active Skills and Abilities
  • Ability 1: Heavy Draw
  • Ability 2: Shred
  • Ability 3: Soothing Potion
• Main Hand Weapon: My Regards
• Armor: Scout Comparison
• Keepsake: Secrets and Memories
• Trinket: Dwarven Key
• Primer Ability: Shred (for applying Sundered)
• Detonator Ability: Heavy Draw (for detonating Overwhelmed)

Best 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	Spellbound Longsword	+370 Physical Damage +248 Stagger	Deal +40 added Fire Damage Gain Flaming Weapons on kill with this weapon Half of your Fire Resistance is added as damage to your Flaming Weapons
Off-Hand	Fade-Touched Bulwark	+276 Physical Damage +255 Stagger	On Perfect Defense nearby enemies are pulled toward you
Alternate Weapon	Vigilant Greathammer	+383 Physical Damage +728 Stagger	+30 Defense Weapon attacks gain +10% of your Defense as bonus damage Gain 1 Defense for each percent of missing health Gain +20 Defense per active Advantage
Helmet	Stinging Blow	+88 Defense +17% Ability Damage	+25% Flaming Weapons duration +25% Flaming Weapons damage Flaming Weapons damage is doubled vs. Burning enemies
Armor	Champion’s Brilliant Regalia	+168 Defense +40% Ability Damage	+25% Fire Resistance +5 max Fire Resistance Immune to Burning Deal 150 Fire damage and apply Burning to nearby enemies when you reach Low Health
Belt	Tincture Kit	+865 Healing	+20% healing received +1 Revival Charges -30% duration of companion healing cooldown
Amulet	Slightless Skull	–	+20% Control Ability damage +25% Stagger from Control Abilities Gain 1 Rage per 50 Stagger dealt by Control Abilities
Ring 1	Warden’s Signet	–	+15% Fire damage +25% Fire Resistance +20% Fire Ability damage against Armor 50% of all of your other damage type bonuses contribute to your Fire damage bonus.
Ring 2	Precious Decay	–	+15% Necrotic damage +25% Necrotic Resistance +20% Necrotic Ability damage against Armor 50% of all of your other damage type bonuses contribute to your Necrotic damage bonus.

Best Runes

The best rune is Fortify for the Warrior Tank build as it applies the Invulnerability effect when active. it negates all the incoming attacks for a brief time. Moreover, the invulnerable duration increases by 25% allowing you to stick close to the enemy without any fear of getting hit.

Recommended Rune suggestion for Warrior Tank build:

1. Fortify
   • Active: You gain invulnerability.
   • Passive: +25% invulnerable duration.
2. Mend
   • Active: Lose all Rage and heal for an equivalent amount.
   • Passive: +10% incoming healing.
3. Ravage
   • Active: Deal 50% more damage vs health for 20 seconds.
   • Passive: +10% damage vs. Health

Build Summary – Warrior Tank

FAQs About Warrior Tank Build in Dragon Age The Veilguard

Question 1: What faction should I pick for a Warrior Tank build?

Answer: Grey Wardens and Lords of Fortune are the best factions to choose for the Warrior Tank build due to the Vigilant Training bonus from Grey Wardens and the Relentless bonus from Lords of Fortune.

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: Yes, you can change the whole playstyle of your build by simply refunding the Skill Points from the Skill Tree and spending them in a different branch. However, you cannot change the Faction.

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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