Dragon Age: The Veilguard is now out, and players are racing to defeat the evil Elven Gods and protect Thedas from existential threats to its existence. That said, you can’t do it alone, so we have ranked the companions in the game by how useful they are on our quest.
The Veilguard offers seven companions for players to choose from, unlocking sequentially as the story progresses. Each brings something a little different to the table, with most settling into relatively defined roles from support to out-and-out damage dealer.
Though some are objectively stronger in combat, it’s essential also to understand the nuances of The Veilguard’s party system. Abilities in the game are capable of combos and chains between party members and the player, and hitting these is important to defeating the game’s hardest foes more easily.
With all of that in mind, we have ranked all of the Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s companions by just how much they bring to the proverbial table.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard companion tier list
| TIER | COMPANIONS |
|---|---|
| S | Lucanis Dellamorte, Lace Harding |
| A | Emmerich Volkarin, Neve Gallus, Bellara Lutare |
| B | Taash, Davrin |
Our tiers explained
- S: The best
- A: Very good
- B: Situationally good or viable when used in combination with other companions
Meta analysis
Dragon Age: The Veilguard has just launched, and later patches could quickly shift how these companions function, or their efficacy in battle.
Those playing Warrior don’t need to concern themselves with bringing much in the way of personal support and can focus all of their attention on eliciting the most damage from companions. Rogues and Mages should be a little more wary and may want to consider sticking with a champion that has a direct heal.
S-Tier companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Lucanis Dellamorte
- Abilities: Debilitate, Eviscerate, Soothing Potion, Adrenaline Rush, Abominate
Possessed by a demon known simply as Spite, Lucanis Dellamorte is one of the game’s more thematically compelling companions. Fortunately, he’s also one of the best in a fight.
Lucanis is a member of the Antivan Crows, an organization of Assassins, and he is held as the shining light and the best in his profession.
As such, this Rogue has access to several dual-dagger attacks that deal Necrotic Damage, which is comfortably functioning as the best damage type in the game right now.
He is extremely powerful from the outset, and you don’t need to invest much time in him to make him viable. Combining his skills with our other Rogue companion Lace Harding is recommended, for an effective mix of ranged combat, support and swift executions.
Lace Harding
- Abilities: Seismic Shot, Adrenaline Rush, Shred, Soothing Potion, Heavy Draw
The Chief Scout of the Inquisition is also as proficient and effective as her position would suggest. Attacking from range, her Seismic Shot ability is a real highlight, and it does enormous damage without any additional interactions.
Rogue companions are particularly strong in this version of the game, but it’s her support capabilities that secure her position in the S-Tier on this list.
Her Soothing Potion grants staggered healing and should do more than enough to take players from effectively zero health all the way back to full. Additionally, she can slow enemies from afar and generally has great crowd control.
Lace is well worth including in your party, regardless of which class you choose to play as.
A-Tier companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Emmrich Volkarin
- Abilities: Final Rites, Replenish, Time Slow, Entangling Spirits, The Bell Tolls
Another of the possible Mage companions that Veilguard offers up to players, Emmrich is a master of the Necromantic arts. He summons additional (undead) enemies to the fight, and they serve as a great source of aggro control and general CC in high-density fights.
Despite his focus on death, he is also very capable of helping to keep the player alive, and Replenish can be slotted into his ability bar to turn him into a full-on support character.
The obvious choice is to bring one of the Warriors as a second companion when you do want to draw on Emmrich’s skills, purely to have the presence of a tank and damage-dealer in the party.
He’s also one of the more amusing and charismatic of the companion options, so definitely give him a go if you’re just looking to keep someone around who is nice to talk to.
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Neve Gallus
- Abilities: Glacial Pace, Blizzard, Icebreaker, Time Slow, Replenish
Member of the Shadow Dragons and all-around good egg, Neve is a Mage who brings solid magical prowess that makes her welcome, if not outstanding, in many group comps.
Neve specializes in Ice-type spells, which are great for crowd control in battles where a ton of Darkspawn enemies appear (which is upsettingly frequent).
She adds to this with spells like Time Slow, and even has some support abilities for those playing squishy classes, thanks to her Replenish spell.
She is probably the character that’s most lacking in immediate synergies with other party members and players, so generally you’ll want to bring a companion from a different class to the Mage, if only for a little more variation.
Bellara Lutare
- Abilities: Fade Bolts, Enfeebling Shot, Replenish, Time Slow, Galvanized Tear
As one of the earliest companions that players meet in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it’s easy to sleep on just how effective of a companion Bellara can be.
An expert in Ancient Elven history and technology, her skills come in useful throughout the game, and she can usually be relied upon for sage and reasonable advice.
She is an accomplished Mage and a Veil Jumper, who draws some power from her interactions with the Fade. Her damage abilities like Enfeebling Shot and Fade Bolts also have great interactivity, with the player and most other companions able to dovetail well with Bellara’s toolkit.
Add to that some very useful support abilities and Bellara should become a regular feature in your parties.
B-Tier companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Taash
- Abilities: Dragonfire Strike, Dragon’s Roar, Spitfire, Fire Breath, Fortune’s Favor
As the only Qunari companion available to the player in The Veilguard, Taash is one of the more immediately intimidating party members.
Excellent at drawing away aggro from the player and dealing strong ability damage, their spectacular attacks do mask some weaknesses with the character as a companion.
When first recruited, Taash is in need of some skill tree upgrades to really get the most out of their skill set. Though this does mean that you will miss out on some output in the meantime, an endgame Taash built in the correct way is an absolute wrecking ball.
There are also some impressive synergies with player and party abilities, depending on how you have built your character and party.
Davrin
- Abilities: Battle Cry, Heroic Strike, Assan Strike, Death From Above, In War, Victory
Davrin is a Grey Warden who’s absolutely devoted to the care of Griffins, the creature that gives the group their symbol. Along with his young Griffin companion Assan, Davrin has some decent damage-dealing options that apply Burning to enemies.
Unfortunately, this status effect isn’t as strong as we would like it to be right now, and Davrin suffers from issues similar to Taash’s early on.
As a Warrior, he is tanky and reliable in battle, but without any really spectacular interactions with other companions, he isn’t the best choice in the game’s current patch.
That’s our complete tier list! If you’re currently playing the game and not sure what to build next, we have prepared full guides for the Mage, Warrior and Rogue. There is also a tier list for all of the game’s factions, so you know which will benefit you the most.