Guide to the Best 12 Runes in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Key Takeaways:
- Runes in Dragon Age: The Veilguard offer both passive and active boosts that can change the tide of battles, particularly in challenging fights.
- Choosing the right runes based on your build can significantly amplify your combat abilities and strategy.
- Certain runes work best when paired with specific abilities, making your character and companions powerful forces on the battlefield.
In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, players have a vast selection of equipment, accessories, and runes to customize their characters. Runes, in particular, provide players with short bursts of enhanced powers that can amplify their damage, control enemy crowds, or refresh abilities. These boosts are often time-sensitive, so they must be strategically used to maximize their effect. Here, we explore some of the top runes in The Veilguard that can give you a decisive edge in combat.
1) Ravage: Unleash Devastating Damage
Ravage is one of the top choices for players looking to maximize damage output, especially in boss fights. Its active ability increases damage dealt to enemy health by 50% for a short duration, making it ideal for high-stakes encounters. The rune’s passive ability also provides a 10% health damage boost, adding extra punch to your attacks. If you pair Ravage with powerful abilities like detonation-based skills, you can end fights faster than ever.
Best Use: Boss fights or strong enemies with high health.
2) Escalate: Amplify Your Next Attack
While Escalate might seem simple at first, it is incredibly powerful for players who rely on specific abilities. This rune enhances the damage output of your next ability, making it stronger and more effective. With a passive bonus of a 10% increase in ability damage, Escalate is a great choice for players who favour heavy-hitting moves like Ground breaker or Titan Stomp. This boost can be especially helpful when trying to take down tough foes in a single shot.
Best Use: Charging up your next attack before engaging an enemy cluster or boss.
3) Crystallize: Freeze Enemies in Their Tracks
Crystallize offers incredible crowd control by freezing enemies within a 10-meter radius. This gives you and your party an opportunity to deal damage to immobilized foes. Crystallize’s passive ability extends the freeze duration by 10%, allowing you to set up devastating follow-up attacks with abilities like Heroic Strike. For players who prefer a control-based playstyle, Crystallize is invaluable.
Best Use: Large enemy groups or controlling powerful foes momentarily.
4) Shatter: Break Through Defenses with Ease
For players favouring ranged attacks, Shatter is an exceptional rune. This rune shatters enemy defenses for 10 seconds, making them vulnerable to further damage. The passive effect boosts ranged damage by an additional 10%, allowing you to deal massive damage to shielded or guarding enemies. When paired with abilities like Spirit Bomb, Shatter helps you land lethal hits that obliterate your foes.
Best Use: Taking down enemies with high defense or armor.
5) Glaciate: Harness the Power of Cold
If you’re facing enemies vulnerable to Cold, Glaciate will give you the upper hand. This rune imbues your weapon with Cold damage for 20 seconds, while its passive ability adds an extra 10% to Cold-based attacks. This ability works particularly well with the Glacial Pace ability, which weakens enemies, making Glaciate ideal for building a strategy around elemental damage.
Best Use: Against enemies with vulnerabilities to elemental Cold damage.
Additional High-Impact Runes
The runes above are only the beginning. Here are more runes that deserve a spot in your rotation, especially for those challenging fights where every advantage counts.
6) Daze: Master of Stagger
The Daze rune is perfect for players using a stagger-focused build. When activated, it staggers all enemies within a six-meter radius, making them vulnerable to takedowns. The passive bonus adds a 10% boost to stagger damage, allowing you to chain together more powerful attacks. Paired with gear that amplifies stagger damage, Daze can clear groups of enemies quickly and efficiently.
Best Use: Close-quarter battles with groups of weaker enemies.
7) Besiege: A Barrier-Breaking Solution
Besiege is designed for fights against enemies fortified by barriers or armor. When activated, this rune boosts all attack types be it abilities, ranged attacks, or standard strikes by 10% against barriers, allowing you to break down tough defenses. For players who find barriers particularly frustrating, Besiege can make a real difference.
Best Use: Against heavily fortified enemies or bosses with barriers.
8) Vivify: Refresh and Recharge
For players who rely on a specific ability for damage or crowd control, Vivify can be a game-changer. This rune refreshes the cooldown of any ability, letting you use it twice in quick succession. Vivify also provides a 10% boost to your Rage meter, helping you reach your Ultimate Ability faster. This rune’s versatility makes it ideal for maximizing ability-based strategies.
Best Use: When you need repeated ability use in short order.
9) Diminish: Weaken Your Foes
Diminish helps control large groups by weakening nearby enemies, allowing you to deal greater damage with your follow-up attacks. The rune also extends the duration of any applied Primer, which can benefit both your character and companions. For crowd control in chaotic battles, Diminish is an invaluable tool.
Best Use: Managing large groups of enemies or multiple powerful foes.
10) Refresh: Extend Your Buffs
Refresh resets the duration of all currently applied Advantages. This is perfect if you’ve stacked several buffs through high-level gear and want to prolong their effects. Combining Refresh with stagger-inducing gear can let you chain multiple advantages together for unstoppable synergy on the battlefield.
Best Use: Extending buffs in prolonged battles, particularly against tough enemies.
11) Regroup: Rapid Cooldown Recovery
In battles where timing is everything, Regroup can give you a big edge by refreshing your companions’ abilities and adding a 10% damage boost to their next attacks. This rune is especially useful if you’re tackling a boss and need to unleash consecutive high-damage abilities from your entire party.
Best Use: Boss fights or intense battles with multiple party members.
12) Hemorrhage: Inflict Bleeding Damage
Hemorrhage is ideal for dealing damage over time. Activating it causes your attacks to inflict Bleeding damage for 10 seconds. If you’re facing a swarm of enemies, Hemorrhage can help you whittle down multiple opponents at once. This effect can be stacked with other weapons that cause bleeding, making you a relentless force on the battlefield.
Best Use: Battles with numerous enemies, particularly undead or other relentless foes.
Strategic Tips for Using Runes Effectively
Runes in Dragon Age: The Veilguard require manual activation and have limited durations. Here are some tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of them:
- Time Activations Carefully: Use runes during pivotal moments, like when a boss’s defenses drop or when you’re surrounded by enemies.
- Pair Runes with Abilities: Each rune has specific abilities it pairs well with. Escalate, for instance, shines when used with high-impact abilities that can maximize its boost.
- Synergize with Gear: Some gear enhances the effects of certain runes. Combining these can create powerful synergies that make your character and companions nearly unstoppable.
FAQ Section
Q: How long do rune effects last in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
A: Rune effects are generally brief, often lasting around 10 to 20 seconds. It’s important to activate them strategically.
Q: Can I use multiple runes at once?
A: You can equip different runes, but typically only one can be activated at a time due to cooldowns. Planning when to switch and activate different runes is key to effective rune usage.
Q: Are there specific vendors for runes in The Veilguard?
A: Yes, certain faction merchants offer a selection of powerful runes for purchase. High-level gear or rewards from side quests can also include runes.
Q: What’s the best rune for boss fights?
A: Regroup and Ravage are excellent for boss fights, allowing you to deal high damage quickly or refresh companion abilities for back-to-back attacks.
Q: Can runes work with companion abilities?
A: Yes, runes like Regroup are particularly beneficial when paired with companion abilities, allowing for a synchronized attack strategy.
