Bioware / Justin Moniquette
Justin's foray into gaming started with classic Resident Evil 3 and has only expanded since then. He graduated from RIT in 2021 and aspires to have his name in the credits of a video game one day.
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
Much like your companions, the different factions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be at the heart of your journey against the escaped Elven Gods. They’ll be constant throughout your journey and will even provide unique gear and items during your playthrough.
In this guide, I’ll be going over each faction so you can decide which faction is best for your Rook. Beware very minor spoilers about the different factions and the companions tied to them.
The Factions
There are six factions present in The Veilguard. During character creation, you can choose to make Rook a part of any one of these factions and it will come with its unique benefits as well as make it easier to raise relations with that faction.
Each one of your companions that join you will also be tied to one of these factions and the faction you’re a part of will constantly come up throughout the story.
Grey Wardens
A fan-favorite faction of the Dragon Age series, the Grey Wardens are tasked with defending Thedas from the horrors of the Darkspawn and anything else that goes bump in the night.
By joining the Grey Wardens you get the traits Blight Killer which makes you deal increased damage to Darkspawn and Vigilant Training which increases base defense and health slightly.
The companion tied to this faction is the Grey Warden monster hunter Davrin.
Veil Jumpers
A relatively new faction in the Dragon Age series, the Veil Jumpers are a collection of elves and like-minded individuals who explore the ancient and magically warped Arlathan Forest.
By joining the Veil Jumpers you get the traits Attuned Strikes which deal increased damage to Fade-Touched enemies and Keen Eye which deals slightly increased critical and weakpoint damage.
The companion tied to this faction is Bellara Lutare, an expert on ancient elven artifacts and the closest thing this series has to an Artificer.
Antivan Crows
Another long-standing faction in the series from Origins, the Antivan Crows are a collection of ruthless assassins feared all across Thedas.
By Joining the Antivan Crows you get the traits Open Contract which makes you deal increased damage to the Antaam and Hidden Pouch which lets you hold an extra potion.
The companion tied to this faction is Lucanis Dellamorte, the best assassin in the Antivan Crows.
Mourn Watch
The Mourn Watch is likely one of the most interesting factions in this guide. They are the defenders of Nevarra’s Grand Necropolis and experts in necromantic magic.
By joining the Mourn Watch you get the traits Return to the Grave which makes you deal increased damage to Undead and Demons and Acute Afflictions which allow you to apply an additional affliction stack on targets.
The companion tied to this faction is Emmrich Volkarin and his undead companion Manfred.
Shadow Dragons
Another relatively new faction in the series are the Shadow Dragons, an underground organization whose main mission is to bring about reform to the corrupt land of Tevinter. Fans of Dorian from Inquisition will love this faction.
By joining the Shadow Dragons you get the traits Never to Rise which makes you deal increased damage to Venatori and Resourceful which makes your class-specific resource regenerate slightly faster.
The companion tied to this faction is Neve Gallus, a hard-boiled detective with a fondness for ice magic.
Lords of Fortune
The last faction in this guide are the Lords of Fortune, a collection of pirates and treasure seekers looking for their next fortune.
By joining this faction you get the traits Healthy Competition which makes you deal increased damage to Mercenaries and Relentless which allows you to perform takedowns on enemies more easily.
The companion tied to this faction is Taash, a Qunari and resident dragon hunter for the Lords.
The Best Faction
At the end of the day, the faction you choose is entirely dependent on what type of character you want to make. The bonuses aren’t completely game-changing, and Bioware has done an excellent job of adding a bunch of reactivity no matter which faction you choose.
With that said, in my personal opinion the best faction in the game is…
The Grey Wardens
It’s hard to beat the faction that started it all. Playing through the game as a Grey Warden, you always feel like you are a part of the faction and there is a ton of reactivity throughout the entire narrative.
Avoiding spoilers, the story of Veilguard feels like it was made to have Rook be a Grey Warden. While the other factions all work, being a Warden just feels right. The bonus health and damage against Darkspawn also go a long way in this game since you’re fighting Darkspawn the entire narrative and more health is always nice.
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