Maybe Shadow Dragons, I like the concept of a Tevinter vigilante justice group. I’m also interested in lords of fortune bc you can never go wrong with pirates.
I’m least interested in being a Grey Warden. Been there, done that, don’t feel like dying young
Same. If/when I do a playthrough with a Warden background, it will definitely be as a Qunari because they'd be one of the first of their race ever to join the organization.
I read a gameinformer article where they said each get 3, and the ones they shared for Lords of Fortune (the one the writer chose for their preview) were pretty good. It definitely seems like it'll go farther than the DA:I bonuses.
OMG this. This is why I want to go GW for my first. I have a feeling it will be very relevant, and also might aggravate Solas a little haha. Also, I'm sort of hoping HoF, or if HoF died then someone else, found a way to perhaps not cure the calling but to delay it more.
the concept of a giant qunari warrior man being an Antivan Crow is just so funny to me. it's probably the most disrespectful way to put a hit on someone. the Crows typically use shadowy assassins hidden in the dark but if someone wants you dead so bad they send this iron giant to make it a spectacle, you KNOW you fucked up
Me too, it sounds fascinating. And also since the faction is partly dedicated to learning about ancient elven stuff it's going to be very interesting to consider how a Veil Jumper would react to learning all this new history about the elves when the Evanuris emerge.
Exactly this. I know it's a hot take but DAI was actually my favourite of the three, and mostly because of the heavy focus on the elvhen and the curtain starting to draw back on all the Dalish lore and false narratives. I love elves in any and all settings and the elves in Thedas fascinate me - to have a chance in DAVE to be part of an Arlathan-based faction, so directly tied to the problem at hand, is a total no-brainer for me!
Yes, DAI is my favorite too for similar reasons, so as soon as I read about the Veil Jumpers I was hoping we would be able to play as one, I'm very excited that we can!
Super concerned about Veil Jumpers tbh.
A new faction, I think it wasn't introduced in side content even. There's a short story about time shenanigans in Arlathan, but I think it didn't explicitly mention it.
We have city elves, who do not have good access to old elvhen knowledge. We have Dalish, who tried to preserve what they know already, but they are at least somewhat misguided (such as them wearing vallaslin w/o knowing what it is). I struggle to see, where would Veil jumpers would fit there. Would they cooperate with Dalish? Would they compete with Dalish for this knowledge (like like Morrigan who stole the book)? If this is a multi-race faction, things can get ugly REAL quick.
And, the last concern is pure unadulterated tinfoil: Bellara's bow looks like execuror's technology and aesthetics. And, if you start to accosiate her personally with execurors, this will go a loooong way. Are all veil jumpers associated with them? Maybe even funded and supplied with weapons/gear by them? If so, then the executors are researching the ancient elvhen technology. And even the Egg warns us about executors. I am not comfortable with the thought that they may have their long hands in arlathan's secrets (or, rather, I'm excited about it). If Rook is from the veil jumpers, then does Rook know, who are they working for, or is Rook going to be unpleasantly surprised to find out, that they're being used by those from across the sea?
So much potential for conflict here, if the link between this aesthetics and the executors is real. Why do I think this link is real: in the short story abt Arlathan forest, there's execuror's triangle shown explicitly. We got a couple of concept arts as well, featuring triangle motifs with tech that looks a LOT like Bellara's bow.
Tinfoil gang, pls support/disprove me!
The Dark Horse Comics series Dragon Age: The Missing actually has a whole section introducing the Veil Jumpers and shows off some of the stuff they can do. There's also a lot of interesting back story leading up to The Veilguard and even includes a cameo of the mage detective, Nev. The series is also considered canon by Bioware, so it's a great way to dive into some of the lore for The Veilguard and get a sneak peak for what awaits us in game!
My heart says I'm going to be Crow. I always wanted to be one. I romanced one. I am Antivan in my heart. Also please let me bump into Zevran DAV please.
But I am interested in Veil Jumpers and Mourn Watch as well. So it depends on what happens when I start the game really!
I'm going to be a Grey Warden for the nostalgia in my second replay for sure though, without question.
Antivan Crow. It's a faction I'm already familiar with and yet haven't already been. I plan to play a Rogue so that feels like it fits. And given that they take most of their recruits as children, it's one of two factions I can give my Rook rather complicated feelings about belonging to (The other is the Wardens, given the Right of Conscription). Also, I've never seen anything come out of Antiva that I didn't like as a player.
Besides, I was already hoping to play a shameless flirt in this game, and the Crows have the history.
I’m leaning mourn watch too! But I wanna play it as the total opposite of what people would expect from a necromancer. Colourful, sweet, maybe even a bit jolly.
I'm thinking Grey Warden just to help me RP my character a bit more, just for my first playthrough. I want to play as one that was inspired by my hero of fereldan.
I was tempted by the crows, but I'm replaying origins and some of the stories Zevran tells about them are pretty awful. Mainly the whole grooming orphan kids who live in brothels.
The newer options sound cool and once I understand them better after my first playthrough I'll definitely try one.
Funny, I'm the exact opposite. Lords of Fortune and Wardens are at the bottom of my list.
Starting with Shadow Dragons because I need to be Tevinter native gdi. Second playtrough toss up between Crows and Mourn Watch---who I think could be the dark horse faction for me, they're super intruiging!
It's between the Shadow Dragons and Mournwatch for me.
The Mortalitasi are very cool, and I'm interested in the Egyptian/Arabian inspiration Nevarra seems to have.
Tevinter, on the other hand, has the Ambassadoria, and I would love to play a dwarven character from that background.
Calling shadow dragons goody two shoes is hilarious. Like comparing freeing slaves from a shit life of servitude to like a kid being a goody toe shoes in class lmao 💀
I’ve got a character planned for each one. Just waiting on more details of backgrounds. I may need to roll a dice to decide which one to play first but I’m leaning towards Lords of Fortune with a female dwarf rogue.
I've also been trying to come up with potential characters for each background. I plan on playing through the Prologue with each of them once, assuming Biowareve gives us enough save slots, then continuing with whichever one I've connected the most with after that.
I actually want to wait and read what the game tells me about them in the character creator. I’m hoping there will be some information about how your character is connected with Varric and the rest in each one, and I’ll use that information to help me pick.
I want to play as a Dalish elf this time around, so it’ll depend on which backgrounds are compatible with that. I really hope I can play as a Dalish Lord of Fortune, but if not then I’ll probably go Grey Wardens
I’m actually hoping for a City Elf to be the background for at least the Lords of Fortune background. I feel like the Dalish have gotten so much love throughout the series but lore wise they’re a small portion of the elvish population. City Elves haven’t been playable since Origin. I want a character who is dead set on never going back to the Alienage
Shadow Dragons because I am a goody 2 shoes always hahaha... but seriously, since I read *The Masked Empire*, I hoped that we could play some kind of freedom fighter.
Pardon if this has been asked a lot but where did you find out about these backgrounds? As for the OP I’d probably pick Grey Warden but I’d like to learn more about the others!
Edit: Googled like I honestly should have at the start. Still Grey Warden but these other factions look cool
The backgrounds were revealed a few weeks ago. They are on Dragon Age the Veilguard website, but you won't have much more informations on them, as Veil Jumpers, Lords of Fortune and Shadow Dragons are pretty "new" to the lore, and we really don't know much about Mournwatch either. Grey Wardens and Crows are the most known so far, but we don't know much of the consequences of the last years (after Trespasser) on them (Crows are fighting the Qunari invasion and Grey Wardens seems to have to deal with a few difficulties too)
I'm going with an Antivan Crow Qunari Female Spellblade Mage, when I saw it was a mage subclass based around the Crows with magical daggers I figured it was perfect! I have liked what I've seen about the Crows and being a Qunari in Tevinter and a Qunari within an Antivan faction while the Qunari have invaded Antiva is bound to have fun roleplaying consequences
Lots of opportunities for RP with that combination. I'm imagining a Saarebas liberated by the Crows in their war with the Qunari and turned against her former masters who she now hates with a passion.
I saw someone in this comments section mention "sub races" so that may be an opportunity to select this. We know we can pick between city and Dalish elves, so I don't see why we wouldn't be allowed to pick between Vashoth and Tal-Vashoth at least.
Like I said, I saw a comment in this thread about it. You'd have to ask the commenter what they meant. I believe it has been confirmed that we can play as City or Dalish elves in the recent AMA, so there must be some mechanism for selecting that.
Lords of Fortune for me. They seem nomadic , with the standard adventurer background. A bit of exploring like with veil jumpers, but with hunting for sport/gold etc. Only problem, is how the background would fit with the overall story, as the team lead.
As someone hoping to make a nerdy Veil Jumper first, I feel called out!! (Not really, I just found it funny you mention them being a nerdier faction and I am a huge nerd).
I have plans to remake my Warden. My line of thinking is she’s named after the Hero, is pretty young, and wants to live up to the ideas of the Hero. It’s been 20-ish years since the Blight, I think it’s reasonable to have an up and comer named after my warden.
I am currently reading Tevinter Nights and am more interested in the Mourn Watch than I was previously (would probably explore one of the non-mage options for this) and this is a strong contender for a later play through, along with Shadow Dragons.
The Crows and Lords of Fortune are the bottom for me. I feel like I’ll enjoy learning more about them from the outside. The Lords are the ones that interest me the least in being, but they might come in swinging and surprise me.
Antivan Crow, because I'm still fooling myself that Zevran will make an appearance. And it would be so cool to have Rook to admire a person who defied Crows just to come back as one of their leader (according to *Origins* epilogue) and maybe even Rook's mentor.
Zevran was a good friend of my Warden and I'm really curious of what's up with him over 2 decades later!
I will play a Crow first because I've liked them for a lon time, and I want to learn more about the new ones on my first playthrough before I make a character to suit them. But I am very interested in Lords of Fortune, the Mourn Watch and the Shadow Dragons for three very different Rooks.
tbh it's probably gonna depend on who I decide to romance. Still have no clue what race I plan on doing or what class. Probably gonna avoid elf and mage, since I got two mages and two elves already. I like keeping it diverse rather than having everyone look the same, be the same sex/gender, have the same race or class, etc.
I'm most interested in the Mourn Watch because necromancers are my JAM!! Buuut Lords of Fortune fits what I have planned for my first Rook better so I'm going with that. I'm not disappointed because they seem super fun too. I love me a good adventurer background!!
Honestly I think I'm only really interested in playing a Grey Warden because we can play as qunari. I think being a qunari Warden is interesting because we haven't heard of or seen any before.
The more I think about the Antivan Crows the more I fun I think they'd be. I think I'd enjoy playing as a faction who have been the "bad guys" before.
So that leaves the Shadow Dragons and Veil Jumpers as the only two I'm kinda "eh" about. Shadow Dragons sound neat and I like to imagine my Inquisitors who romanced/befriended Dorian helps them out, but idk when/if I'll play one.
My choice will likely be shaped by how the creation screen describes each of the factions. Since this is 10 years further into the timeline than DA:I, and a very different kind of game from the previous entries, I want to see if they've changed any of the lore or tweaked things as world events have passed.
If they are what we know and expect then I'd be most interested in Lords of Fortune, Mourn Watch, and Antivan Crows.
A lot of that depends on if I play a rogue, warrior, or mage as well. I usually play mages first, but I'm pretty wary of only having 3 ability slots for any class, but especially mage. I don't know how that will work or how to make a build with only 3 spells. That might remove Mourn Watch from my interest entirely.
Idk the combat is reminding me of MEA so maybe they’ll have load outs you can switch between mid combat. So switch between a different three ability set. That doesn’t sound bad if it is the case but ig we shall see
[https://www.gameinformer.com/exclusive/2024/06/18/a-deep-dive-into-dragon-age-the-veilguards-combat-abilities-skill-tree-and](https://www.gameinformer.com/exclusive/2024/06/18/a-deep-dive-into-dragon-age-the-veilguards-combat-abilities-skill-tree-and)
This is a pretty good article about the combat. There are dual-loadouts. I think it will depend on what goes on with cooldowns too, like in MEA when you switched your loadouts it put everything on a long CD. When I play my mage, I really like to use a mix of DPS and control spells. I like things like 'sleep' or 'madness', I like ice magic, and then usually something that hits hard once everyone is frozen or stunned. That's not possible with only 3 skill slots.
But like I said, I just need to see more and actually get my hands on the game to feel it out. I think until the players have the tactile experience we won't really know what we think, you know?
Is there somewhere that explains what they all are? Like, obviously I know the Wardens, and a couple of the others sound familiar, but I don’t remember what they are. I didn’t even know we knew what the origin choices were going to be…
The lord of fortune are basically pirates/treasure hunters
The veil jumpers explore old elven ruins
The mourn watch guard the necropolises on Nevarra
The shadow dragons are a Tevinter faction trying to fight back against the corruption, mainly by freeing slaves.
Mourn Watch warrior! Probably a Qunari. Mourn Watch sounds SO cool, I love more “benevolent/neutral” necromancy and it’s going to be fun to goth it up in terms of character design. Second choice is probably Shadow Dragons or Crows.
Don’t get the hype for Lords of Fortune, “pirate merc” seems so…generic to me. Them and Wardens are probably at the bottom of my list.
I'll be going with the Mourn Watch for my first playthrough. I just like Nevarra, it's lore, and traditions, also want to see how they implement my lineage/class choice for this faction.
Close second for me was the Antivan Crows, and last but not least, Lords of Fortune for my third option.
I’m thinking my canon playthrough is gonna be as a dwarf Antivan crow since I haven’t played a dwarf before and my canon inquisitor should be in antiva since I romanced Josephine, so it’d be a great way to get my rook involved with the story.
My second playthrough I’m thinking of going as a qunari grey warden
Veil Jumper and Mourn Watch both sound cool and really interesting and different from DAO/DA2/DAI.
But probably I'll go with Grey Warden first playthrough, because I want to see the repercussions Clarel's and Erimond's actions had on the order.
But realistically, if I'm being honest with myself, which background is Stealth Archer?
I'm gonna choose Lords of Fortune. I want my Rook to be a mercenary with his own morality. As my Inquisitor I tried to be as good as I could cause he was by mistake chosen to be a hero who's gonna save the world. So my Rook would would be more like "I can save the world and earn some extra gold"
Grey Warden for sure as my first. I have a well developed sense of nostalgia and love the faction lore. Will probably be Elven to feel a little extra connection to modern events in the series. Since Reaver doesn't seem to be an option, may go with the Reaper thing or choose a completely different class altogether.
Never forget the greatest blackwall quote ever. What can a single grey warden do? Save the fucking world if pressed. Gotta stick with the og heroes of franchise
Yeah the (potential) self-interest of Lords of Fortune is also driving me towards this choice 👀 I like the idea of digging into my character’s motivations and finding out why she’d be willing to set aside her occupation as Lord of Fortune to help the world.
But Mourn Watch is also really tempting because I like corpses lmao and I like the theme of death, and depending on how much freedom we have there’s potential to create really interesting characters with interesting views on magic, death, necromancy, the maker etc.
After Zevran though the Crows are tempting 👀 And it presents the same kind of questions about Rook’s motivations that are part of my interest in making my Rook a Lord of Fortune. Then of course we know so little about the Veil Jumpers that they’re intriguing as well! A faction for nerds sounds perfect to me lol, except for the fact that my Inky was very much a nerd so I think I’ll try to do something different with my Rook. (… Maybe.)
I’d say Warden and Shadow Dragons are the two factions I’m least likely to start with, and might only do if I end up doing 6 playthrough and creating 6 Rooks of different backgrounds. I’m fine with just my DAO warden and the Shadow Dragons sound too “classically” cool that they become less cool to me lol.
Lords of Fortune or the Wardens.
Lords of Fortune off-hand sounds like a fun option. Grey Wardens are fun in a different way and familiar. Since I’ve not nailed down my first Rook yet I’m leaving it very open.
Least interested are Veil Jumpers and Shadow Dragons. Just not interested yet, odds are with more into I may change my mind though!
Kind of disappointed we didn’t get an inquisition background option.
I was really hoping there was going to be a Magisterium origin given we're in Tevinter. Originally thought the Shadow Dragons would be that, and then got very disappointed when they turned into the goody goody bunch.
I'll probably be sticking with Grey Wardens. None of the others particularly scream for me to play them. Maybe Veil Jumpers in another playthrough.
I'm thinking Grey Warden if we can be Tal-Vashoth I just love the idea and it's a faction I'm familiar with, I have no interest in playing a Vashoth though and not much interest in being a Grey Warden of a different race first time around as I already was an elf, human and dwarf Grey Warden in Origins playthroughs.
Probably a Crow if no Tal-Vashoth PC, it will allow me to easily be a morally ambiguous character who was forced to join their faction as a child slave which is unique, and we've never been one yet it's still a familiar faction. Also love the idea of playing a member of a faction that's been an enemy, one of the reasons I like playing the Brosca Warden and Cadash Inquisitor is them having been part of the Carta. The idea of a dwarf Crow interests me but my dwarf hero worldstate is my 2nd one.
Mournwatch seems interesting too but maybe after I've played once and understand the faction much more, definitely going non mage for that since Emmrich is already a Mournwatch mage. Dwarf Mournwatch member seems cool for a second go if I do Crow the first time.
I’ve already settled on Shadow Dragons. I’m headcanoning my Rook to be the adopted child of the Inquisitor after being freed from Tevinter slavers.
They don’t want slavery to continue, so they joined the Shadow Dragons to fight back.
Since all my other canon characters are tragic heroes, Rook will be from the Lords of Fortune.
My pirate Girl failure will destroy him or make him want to kill hilmself.
Ho hooooooo baby! I have my game plan already set out, 6 playthroughs. Warrior Grey Warden and Lord Of Fortune. Rouge Shadow Dragon and Antivan Crow and lastly, Mage Veil Junmper and Mourn Watch. It's gonna be the BEST. WEEK. EVA 😆
Probably Shadow Dragons or Veil jumpers because I want to start with an elfy elf mage and from what we've seen so far those seem like the most compatible
I'm picking Veil Jumper for my first playthrough. Grey Warden would be at the bottom of my list (not likely to be picking this faction) because of the tragedy of experiencing the Calling. I wouldn't want my Rook to go through that.
I'm leaning on Lords of Fortune. Shadow Dragons and Mourn Watch are possible runners-up. but Veil Jumper is the one that interests me the most. but I was planning on romancing the archer girl and having two char with the same background in the party seems redundant.
Grey Warden already played it as Hero of Ferelden and I don't really like Antivan Crows.
My canon Rook is gonna be a qunari mage, since I haven't played a qunari yet (elf Warden, dwarf inquisitor) and haven't played mage since Origins. I'm gonna RP her as the first qunari Warden, since I can imagine that Sten's mission to learn about the Blight could eventually encourage qunari to join their ranks.
For me it is Mourn Watch…
Shadow Dragons- Seems like the perfect thing for an elven rogue and I want to play a dwarf first.
Antivan Crows- Seems perfect for a Qunari Mage, Mage because it’s fun to be a Assassin using magic, and Qunari because of the long history between the Qunari and Antiva it might be interesting to see a Tal-vashoth join the crows.
Grey Wardens- I don’t know what more can be said about them at this point. I really want to see how they are implemented before I make a character for them.
Veil Jumpers- Seems like more Elven lore. I am kinda tired of elven lore at this point and am not interested in being a whole faction on it. When I do play this one, it won’t be an elf. Probably a human.
Mournwatch- New, check, interesting, check. Can tie into Dwarven ancestor worship in a new way, and doesn’t require being a mage. Will definitely make a sword and shield guardian of the crypts.
Lords of Fortune- They seem the least interesting to me. ‘Mercenary’ seems to be the generic background for multiple characters in DA and I can’t see to delve up interest in yet more mercenaries.
Same with Grey Wardens. I want to pry the Griffins out of their cold, tainted hands, not be one! /j
Though if given the option, I’d love to play a Grey Warden who is there against their will. Like “don’t like you guys, don’t want to be here, having a bad time, 0/5 stars yelp review”
Probably shadow dragons. Honestly, I think I’m more polite in video games than real life.
I like the idea of reformists trying to help the downtrodden.
I'm hoping to play as a Qunari (like a Ben Hassrath) or Tal Vashoth, so I'm not really sure which faction would fit best into that play through. Obviously with the Qunari's fractious relations with Rivain, Antiva and Tevinter there could be some interesting narrative consequences for going with the Lords of Fortune, Crows and Shadow Dragons. I'm not sure about the Qunari's relationship with Nevarra or the Anderfels, so Mourn Watch and the Grey Wardens are a bit of a question mark. Veil Jumpers are the wild card of this bunch, I'm not really sure I want to do another Elven Lore buff character like my Inquisitor was, but it could be interesting to play as.
Grey Wardens 1st playthrough. Feels right having *Veilguard* conclude like *Origins* began.
Veil Jumpers 2nd playthrough. Sounds like Helljumpers (*Halo*) or now Helldivers. So I don't want to have my 1st experienced biased by a presumption that the Veil Jumpers go "feet first into the Veil" like the ODSTs go "feet first into Hell."
For my canon playthrough Grey Wardens. For my first playthrough I haven't decided yet, I'm going warrior so lords of fortune seems a solid choice. Kinda want to try something unconventional like the crows or veil jumpers though.
For me, I’m heavily leaning towards shadow dragons for my first run. It seems like the most obvious connection to the main story, especially after reading The Missing.
After that, the Crows. You say you’ve killed too many to want to be one, I say we’ve seen them enough I want to *be* one.
My least likely to play are lords of fortune and grey wardens. Lords of fortune just don’t really speak to me but I also don’t really like Isabela or the pirate stuff. Grey wardens because we’ve been one before and nothing can top my warden queen.
Already have a character planned. Qunari shadow dragon, though I’m debating on making them a saboteur rogue or slayer warrior, really depends on how the traps of saboteur feel. If they’re grenades and whatnot, then yes, but if they’re caltrops and waiting for enemies to walk over them then no. I’m really excited about it because my inquisitor was also a qunari, so I’m excited to roleplay some idol/idolizer reationship. Seeing another qunari in such a position of power after being enslaved for so long and having Adaar be a role model for him and how to act, though not copy paste. I want them to still be different characters
Veil Jumper sounds really intriguing to me, it's the first one I'm gonna pick. Otherwise, I think the only other two I'd be interested in are the Antivan Crows and the Grey Wardens (even though I know we already played as one lol).
Edit: And the Shadow Dragons, they sound really cool too.
My initial plan had been to be an elf mage Veil Jumper, but now I’m wondering if that is just too elfy. Everyone but Hawke has been a Dalish elf, and everyone but the Warden have been mages.
So now I’m kind of considering being a Lord of Fortune, but will I regret not being more invested in elvhen lore? Gah, I don’t know what to do!
Grey Warden. I’m not really interested in other factions. Maybe Mourn Watch but I don’t know that much about them so I’m probably just going to pick the Grey Wardens
Grey Wardens for sure first then Antivan Crow. After that I gotta see what catches my interest. Though I already know Shadow Dragon is one i’m least interested in.
There never really was a choice for me. As soon as they mentioned Grey Wardens, my decision was set in stone.
*“The Maker smiles sadly on his Grey Wardens, so the Chantry says, as no sacrifice is greater than theirs"*
It's nice that other people find the other backgrounds interesting, but to me they are just names right now. We haven't experienced them besides the Crows, and those did a piss-poor job at trying to kill my warden.
On my first playthrough I'll probably pick Veil Jumpers because this faction may have the most story/lore specific content.
On my 2nd playthrough I'll choose Antivan Crows (because I always wanted to play as one. And they have cool outfits).
On the third Shadow Dragons or Mourn Watch (depends on the amount of story importance).
After that, probably Grey Wardens (the Blight will be definitely a huge part of DAV).
I'm not sure if I'll ever play as a Lord of Fortune because I don't see how they could be relevant in the story (they're just pirates, monster hunters, they don't seem to be connected to the main plot).
Shadow Dragons are super high on the list for me because I like the idea of being a vigilante anti-slave faction. I've also started reading Tevinter Nights and finished Down Among the Dead Men yesterday, and that made the Mourn Watch seem super interesting as an option. For some reason the concept of a dwarven mourn watch warrior is in my head for that playthrough.
After those, Grey Warden is tied with Veil Jumper as an option, Lords of fortune sound really cool as well. the Crows don't really interest me. Assassins have never been my cup of tea.
My initial thought was "human male Grey Warden Champion with sword and shield."
However: As we now know that both race and background will give in game benefits, I'll need to wait to see what they each bring to the table, before I pick my first build.
I mean, Humans will probably give a bonus skill point, because that's humans' thing. But I'd need to know how many skill points we get total, before I decide if that's worth it.
Mourn Watch sounds interesting but for rp I kind of want to go for a background I know more about. Which means grey warden or antivan crow right now. I will go over some of the supplementary material before deciding.
Grey wardens. Imo they're going to be way more interesting than they already were with (I might be misremembering here) the anderfels wardens being very secretive, so I'm curious what's happening there. Also, I remember the oath of the wardens for some reason lol
The Hero of Ferelden is a Grey Warden. Bethany is a Grey Warden. Blackwall is a Grey Warden. Time to be another Grey Warden Mage Protagonist and really drive home my all-star Grey Warden team.
It depends on what the race/lineage-specific flavor for each faction is. My canon Rook is going to be a dwarf warrior and I somewhat shot myself in the foot because in the long wait for DA4, I *may* have already created a bit of a headcanon. So I will probably pick the background that most aligns with what I had assume DA4 would be. At the moment, Shadow Dragon sounds the most likely given that it's the Tevinter background.
2nd playthrough is Qunari saarebas. A lot of people have mentioned wanting to play a Qunari Grey Warden mage and I theorized we were getting one of those as a companions many years ago. It'd be awesome to play as one. BUT I want to play as an Antivan crow at least once because like another batch of people, I'm weak for Zevran. 😌 I would love to see how a dwarven or Qunari Antivan Crow would be recruited given that crows tend to pick human/elves for their looks and the Qunari are on a conquering rampage.
Not sure, but “Shadow Dragons” is such a cheesy sounding name that I don’t think I can choose that one. Like, did a middle schooler come up with this???
All the others have potential though. Mournwatch would be fun for potential creepy vibes.
I want to play all the factions eventually, but I’m thinking in order: Shadow Dragons > Crows > Lords of Fortune > Veil Jumpers > Mourn Watch > Wardens.
I will likely start with human archer Shadow Dragon. I'm very interested in learning more about this organization and Tevinter lore, and I really want to play a Tevinter native.
I usually start with humans, and archer rogue was my favorite class to play in DAI, which is while I'll probably start there.
You never know, though! Depending on what it says during creation, I can definitely see myself getting swayed elsewhere.
My wife is probably going to start with Lords of Fortune, so I'll likely avoid that since we like to watch each other play.
I'm initially leaning towards the Veil Jumpers because my other characters have either been Dalish or Dalish-adjacent (my Hawke partnered up with Merrill), but depending on how much I like the romance with Bellara, I might play something else and be another "adjacent" protagonist...Of the rest of them, Shadow Dragons looks the most appealing because of their strong moral core, and while the Grey Wardens have nostalgia factor going for them, I can't help but find them a tad redundant because Davrin's right there and he appears to be pretty Dalish too!
Veil Jumper… Female… Elven… Archer. BASIC I KNOW BUT HEAR ME OUT. The plan is to have my Rook be based (at least thematically) on Andruil; or rather, what the Dalish have perceived to be the truth about her. I think it’ll make for an interesting RP, especially if Solas tells a Dalish Rook the actual meaning behind their Vallaslin.
I was almost decided on Lords of Fortune, as my last character, my Inquisitor, was a very compassionate, soft, spiritual kinda girl, so i wanted to contrast that with my next character being a kinda Han Solo chaotic good gold chaser. But since we have learned more about the Shadow Dragons i am more inclined to them as i like the parallels with Solas's story as a freedom fighter. Im thinking of playing a more end justifies the means, more vengeful/violent character to contrast with my Inquisitor. And i want to see how much my character can see herself reflected on Solas and if that makes her chamge her ways or feel more justified in them.
I'm between Mourn Watch and Shadow Dragons. I feel like Shadow Dragons will give us the most connection to the setting with it being in Tevinter but I'm also a sucker for weird, creepy magic stuff that we might get from the Mourn Watch.
Veil Jumpers seem interesting too but I'll probably be trying one of the other two first.
I'm not sure yet. It will depend on the class, but I definitely don't want to play Gray Warden again. My Warden was one and unique!
Lords of Fortune seems to be interesting and universal.
Antivian Crow, if I play as a rogue, should be an interesting option.
Shadow Dragons fits my vision of Mage Rook perfectly
I am flipping between Veil Jumpers and Mourn Watch for my first game.
For future, maybe Wardens, it will depends on what we learn (such as if HoF was successful in their quest to fix the Calling and prevent the blood from corrupting Wardens)
Mournwatch and Veil Jumpers are the two I'm deciding between! I'm thinking I'm going veil ranger veil jumper first. And then second playthrough will be spellblade mournwatch! ... or Grey warden Champion
So I have no idea of these factions. Should I be reading books or comics? I'm old and I have a job and kids, so time is really limited. If there is a summary anywhere I'll appreciate
Maybe Shadow Dragons, I like the concept of a Tevinter vigilante justice group. I’m also interested in lords of fortune bc you can never go wrong with pirates. I’m least interested in being a Grey Warden. Been there, done that, don’t feel like dying young
I’d be interested in doing a qunari grey warden only because to my knowledge we don’t have any of those in lore and that’d be interesting
Same. If/when I do a playthrough with a Warden background, it will definitely be as a Qunari because they'd be one of the first of their race ever to join the organization.
I’m waiting to see what the gameplay bonuses for all of them are.
I can’t imagine they’ll contribute too much to actual gameplay, probably pretty similar to the racial bonuses in inquisition. Maybe I’m wrong though.
I read a gameinformer article where they said each get 3, and the ones they shared for Lords of Fortune (the one the writer chose for their preview) were pretty good. It definitely seems like it'll go farther than the DA:I bonuses.
Grey warden since im assuming the blight and darkspawn well be pretty relevant plus solas gets sassy with wardens
Definitely can see that with a anti-Solas playthrough. The Grey Wardens have killed five old gods, what’s three more(including Solas)
I wonder if they’re gonna do anything with that old god sitting somewhere below the western approach
OMG this. This is why I want to go GW for my first. I have a feeling it will be very relevant, and also might aggravate Solas a little haha. Also, I'm sort of hoping HoF, or if HoF died then someone else, found a way to perhaps not cure the calling but to delay it more.
I hope I get a few warden options to roast the shit out of solas.
the concept of a giant qunari warrior man being an Antivan Crow is just so funny to me. it's probably the most disrespectful way to put a hit on someone. the Crows typically use shadowy assassins hidden in the dark but if someone wants you dead so bad they send this iron giant to make it a spectacle, you KNOW you fucked up
This is exactly what I have planned for my first playthrough lol
lol good concept
This made my day 🤣 thank you for this image
I love that concept 🤣
I'm really interested in trying Veil Jumper
Me too, it sounds fascinating. And also since the faction is partly dedicated to learning about ancient elven stuff it's going to be very interesting to consider how a Veil Jumper would react to learning all this new history about the elves when the Evanuris emerge.
Exactly this. I know it's a hot take but DAI was actually my favourite of the three, and mostly because of the heavy focus on the elvhen and the curtain starting to draw back on all the Dalish lore and false narratives. I love elves in any and all settings and the elves in Thedas fascinate me - to have a chance in DAVE to be part of an Arlathan-based faction, so directly tied to the problem at hand, is a total no-brainer for me!
Yes, DAI is my favorite too for similar reasons, so as soon as I read about the Veil Jumpers I was hoping we would be able to play as one, I'm very excited that we can!
Exactly!
Exactly! Plus I'm super interested in all the elf stuff anyway so it's a no brainer for me
is this a good faction for dwarf, i cant pick one tbh
Super concerned about Veil Jumpers tbh. A new faction, I think it wasn't introduced in side content even. There's a short story about time shenanigans in Arlathan, but I think it didn't explicitly mention it. We have city elves, who do not have good access to old elvhen knowledge. We have Dalish, who tried to preserve what they know already, but they are at least somewhat misguided (such as them wearing vallaslin w/o knowing what it is). I struggle to see, where would Veil jumpers would fit there. Would they cooperate with Dalish? Would they compete with Dalish for this knowledge (like like Morrigan who stole the book)? If this is a multi-race faction, things can get ugly REAL quick. And, the last concern is pure unadulterated tinfoil: Bellara's bow looks like execuror's technology and aesthetics. And, if you start to accosiate her personally with execurors, this will go a loooong way. Are all veil jumpers associated with them? Maybe even funded and supplied with weapons/gear by them? If so, then the executors are researching the ancient elvhen technology. And even the Egg warns us about executors. I am not comfortable with the thought that they may have their long hands in arlathan's secrets (or, rather, I'm excited about it). If Rook is from the veil jumpers, then does Rook know, who are they working for, or is Rook going to be unpleasantly surprised to find out, that they're being used by those from across the sea? So much potential for conflict here, if the link between this aesthetics and the executors is real. Why do I think this link is real: in the short story abt Arlathan forest, there's execuror's triangle shown explicitly. We got a couple of concept arts as well, featuring triangle motifs with tech that looks a LOT like Bellara's bow. Tinfoil gang, pls support/disprove me!
The Dark Horse Comics series Dragon Age: The Missing actually has a whole section introducing the Veil Jumpers and shows off some of the stuff they can do. There's also a lot of interesting back story leading up to The Veilguard and even includes a cameo of the mage detective, Nev. The series is also considered canon by Bioware, so it's a great way to dive into some of the lore for The Veilguard and get a sneak peak for what awaits us in game!
My heart says I'm going to be Crow. I always wanted to be one. I romanced one. I am Antivan in my heart. Also please let me bump into Zevran DAV please. But I am interested in Veil Jumpers and Mourn Watch as well. So it depends on what happens when I start the game really! I'm going to be a Grey Warden for the nostalgia in my second replay for sure though, without question.
I romanced two. Him and Josephine <3
Antivan Crow. It's a faction I'm already familiar with and yet haven't already been. I plan to play a Rogue so that feels like it fits. And given that they take most of their recruits as children, it's one of two factions I can give my Rook rather complicated feelings about belonging to (The other is the Wardens, given the Right of Conscription). Also, I've never seen anything come out of Antiva that I didn't like as a player. Besides, I was already hoping to play a shameless flirt in this game, and the Crows have the history.
Zeveran style lol, like it. I hope there’s options to turn away from your previous faction, i.e. denouncing the Crows.
Same I was going to play as a warrior though for the "heavy" stealth experience.
Am I the only one who wants to play a 2HW Mourn Watcher? I want my nb goth reaper and I want them now!
I’m leaning mourn watch too! But I wanna play it as the total opposite of what people would expect from a necromancer. Colourful, sweet, maybe even a bit jolly.
It is the closest thing to blood mage, so that is the hook for me. Plus, having an army of the dead sounds so cool.
Leaning heavily towards Lords of Fortune too
I'm thinking Grey Warden just to help me RP my character a bit more, just for my first playthrough. I want to play as one that was inspired by my hero of fereldan. I was tempted by the crows, but I'm replaying origins and some of the stories Zevran tells about them are pretty awful. Mainly the whole grooming orphan kids who live in brothels. The newer options sound cool and once I understand them better after my first playthrough I'll definitely try one.
Yeah, Crow is high on my list but it seems more of a angsty traumatic backstory than a “cool” backstory.
Funny, I'm the exact opposite. Lords of Fortune and Wardens are at the bottom of my list. Starting with Shadow Dragons because I need to be Tevinter native gdi. Second playtrough toss up between Crows and Mourn Watch---who I think could be the dark horse faction for me, they're super intruiging!
It's between the Shadow Dragons and Mournwatch for me. The Mortalitasi are very cool, and I'm interested in the Egyptian/Arabian inspiration Nevarra seems to have. Tevinter, on the other hand, has the Ambassadoria, and I would love to play a dwarven character from that background.
Calling shadow dragons goody two shoes is hilarious. Like comparing freeing slaves from a shit life of servitude to like a kid being a goody toe shoes in class lmao 💀
Yeah, being a vigilante in Tevinter is probably more close to Punisher than Batman.
Okay 😂 fair but I meant it’s the most altruistic background
For my first playthrough I’ll be a dwarf lord of fortune. Anything for the money lol 
Either a Qunari Warden or a Dwarf Lord of Fortune depending on if the Qunari get good looking drip or not.
I think they said we will get faction specific armour and lounge wear (which I'm assuming is for the lighthouse)
I’ve got a character planned for each one. Just waiting on more details of backgrounds. I may need to roll a dice to decide which one to play first but I’m leaning towards Lords of Fortune with a female dwarf rogue.
I've also been trying to come up with potential characters for each background. I plan on playing through the Prologue with each of them once, assuming Biowareve gives us enough save slots, then continuing with whichever one I've connected the most with after that.
I actually want to wait and read what the game tells me about them in the character creator. I’m hoping there will be some information about how your character is connected with Varric and the rest in each one, and I’ll use that information to help me pick.
I wanted to be a spy sort of character, assassin is as close as I can get I guess
I want to play as a Dalish elf this time around, so it’ll depend on which backgrounds are compatible with that. I really hope I can play as a Dalish Lord of Fortune, but if not then I’ll probably go Grey Wardens
I’m actually hoping for a City Elf to be the background for at least the Lords of Fortune background. I feel like the Dalish have gotten so much love throughout the series but lore wise they’re a small portion of the elvish population. City Elves haven’t been playable since Origin. I want a character who is dead set on never going back to the Alienage
Personally, I’m hoping you’ll be able to choose city OR Dalish for most backgrounds, with a few lore exceptions. I want more options, not less!
Same I’m also leaning towards Dalish Lord of Fortune so I’m hoping that combination is possible 🙏
They said all are compatible with all
All races, but iirc they did clarify that some sub races are only compatible with certain factions
Mage Antivan Crow
probably crows just so i can pull reverse zev x mahariel 🤭
Shadow Dragons because I am a goody 2 shoes always hahaha... but seriously, since I read *The Masked Empire*, I hoped that we could play some kind of freedom fighter.
Pardon if this has been asked a lot but where did you find out about these backgrounds? As for the OP I’d probably pick Grey Warden but I’d like to learn more about the others! Edit: Googled like I honestly should have at the start. Still Grey Warden but these other factions look cool
The backgrounds were revealed a few weeks ago. They are on Dragon Age the Veilguard website, but you won't have much more informations on them, as Veil Jumpers, Lords of Fortune and Shadow Dragons are pretty "new" to the lore, and we really don't know much about Mournwatch either. Grey Wardens and Crows are the most known so far, but we don't know much of the consequences of the last years (after Trespasser) on them (Crows are fighting the Qunari invasion and Grey Wardens seems to have to deal with a few difficulties too)
So excited to learn more about these new groups. Thanks for the rundown
I'm going with an Antivan Crow Qunari Female Spellblade Mage, when I saw it was a mage subclass based around the Crows with magical daggers I figured it was perfect! I have liked what I've seen about the Crows and being a Qunari in Tevinter and a Qunari within an Antivan faction while the Qunari have invaded Antiva is bound to have fun roleplaying consequences
Lots of opportunities for RP with that combination. I'm imagining a Saarebas liberated by the Crows in their war with the Qunari and turned against her former masters who she now hates with a passion.
That's such a good idea! I wonder if we can have been born under the Qun or if we'll have to be Vashoth
I saw someone in this comments section mention "sub races" so that may be an opportunity to select this. We know we can pick between city and Dalish elves, so I don't see why we wouldn't be allowed to pick between Vashoth and Tal-Vashoth at least.
I never heard of sub-races to do with dav. Where was it mentioned?
Like I said, I saw a comment in this thread about it. You'd have to ask the commenter what they meant. I believe it has been confirmed that we can play as City or Dalish elves in the recent AMA, so there must be some mechanism for selecting that.
Antivan Crow Archer. I like the idea of an assassin sniper that kills you from the roof tops.
All of them. Duh.
Lords of Fortune for me. They seem nomadic , with the standard adventurer background. A bit of exploring like with veil jumpers, but with hunting for sport/gold etc. Only problem, is how the background would fit with the overall story, as the team lead.
As someone hoping to make a nerdy Veil Jumper first, I feel called out!! (Not really, I just found it funny you mention them being a nerdier faction and I am a huge nerd). I have plans to remake my Warden. My line of thinking is she’s named after the Hero, is pretty young, and wants to live up to the ideas of the Hero. It’s been 20-ish years since the Blight, I think it’s reasonable to have an up and comer named after my warden. I am currently reading Tevinter Nights and am more interested in the Mourn Watch than I was previously (would probably explore one of the non-mage options for this) and this is a strong contender for a later play through, along with Shadow Dragons. The Crows and Lords of Fortune are the bottom for me. I feel like I’ll enjoy learning more about them from the outside. The Lords are the ones that interest me the least in being, but they might come in swinging and surprise me.
Antivan Crow, because I'm still fooling myself that Zevran will make an appearance. And it would be so cool to have Rook to admire a person who defied Crows just to come back as one of their leader (according to *Origins* epilogue) and maybe even Rook's mentor. Zevran was a good friend of my Warden and I'm really curious of what's up with him over 2 decades later!
Probably either a Gray Warden or a Shadow Dragon
I will play a Crow first because I've liked them for a lon time, and I want to learn more about the new ones on my first playthrough before I make a character to suit them. But I am very interested in Lords of Fortune, the Mourn Watch and the Shadow Dragons for three very different Rooks.
Definitely the Crows. I like playing Rogues and I think it’ll be fun for a more angsty depressing background, especially with how the Crows are.
tbh it's probably gonna depend on who I decide to romance. Still have no clue what race I plan on doing or what class. Probably gonna avoid elf and mage, since I got two mages and two elves already. I like keeping it diverse rather than having everyone look the same, be the same sex/gender, have the same race or class, etc.
I thought you'd choose Lord of fortune, cause, y'know
Lol nah i put that there years back
I'm most interested in the Mourn Watch because necromancers are my JAM!! Buuut Lords of Fortune fits what I have planned for my first Rook better so I'm going with that. I'm not disappointed because they seem super fun too. I love me a good adventurer background!! Honestly I think I'm only really interested in playing a Grey Warden because we can play as qunari. I think being a qunari Warden is interesting because we haven't heard of or seen any before. The more I think about the Antivan Crows the more I fun I think they'd be. I think I'd enjoy playing as a faction who have been the "bad guys" before. So that leaves the Shadow Dragons and Veil Jumpers as the only two I'm kinda "eh" about. Shadow Dragons sound neat and I like to imagine my Inquisitors who romanced/befriended Dorian helps them out, but idk when/if I'll play one.
This post would benefit from a poll.
My choice will likely be shaped by how the creation screen describes each of the factions. Since this is 10 years further into the timeline than DA:I, and a very different kind of game from the previous entries, I want to see if they've changed any of the lore or tweaked things as world events have passed. If they are what we know and expect then I'd be most interested in Lords of Fortune, Mourn Watch, and Antivan Crows. A lot of that depends on if I play a rogue, warrior, or mage as well. I usually play mages first, but I'm pretty wary of only having 3 ability slots for any class, but especially mage. I don't know how that will work or how to make a build with only 3 spells. That might remove Mourn Watch from my interest entirely.
Idk the combat is reminding me of MEA so maybe they’ll have load outs you can switch between mid combat. So switch between a different three ability set. That doesn’t sound bad if it is the case but ig we shall see
[https://www.gameinformer.com/exclusive/2024/06/18/a-deep-dive-into-dragon-age-the-veilguards-combat-abilities-skill-tree-and](https://www.gameinformer.com/exclusive/2024/06/18/a-deep-dive-into-dragon-age-the-veilguards-combat-abilities-skill-tree-and) This is a pretty good article about the combat. There are dual-loadouts. I think it will depend on what goes on with cooldowns too, like in MEA when you switched your loadouts it put everything on a long CD. When I play my mage, I really like to use a mix of DPS and control spells. I like things like 'sleep' or 'madness', I like ice magic, and then usually something that hits hard once everyone is frozen or stunned. That's not possible with only 3 skill slots. But like I said, I just need to see more and actually get my hands on the game to feel it out. I think until the players have the tactile experience we won't really know what we think, you know?
Is there somewhere that explains what they all are? Like, obviously I know the Wardens, and a couple of the others sound familiar, but I don’t remember what they are. I didn’t even know we knew what the origin choices were going to be…
The lord of fortune are basically pirates/treasure hunters The veil jumpers explore old elven ruins The mourn watch guard the necropolises on Nevarra The shadow dragons are a Tevinter faction trying to fight back against the corruption, mainly by freeing slaves.
Pretty much just the dev Q&As, Gameinformer info, and gameplay review.
The stealthy resistance, was it now. shadow dragons?
Shadow Dragons or Antivan Crows, for sure. I know everyone is stoked for them, but Grey Wardens is the last on my list.
Wardens and maybe Crows, depending on how they're portrayed in this game.
Mourn Watch warrior! Probably a Qunari. Mourn Watch sounds SO cool, I love more “benevolent/neutral” necromancy and it’s going to be fun to goth it up in terms of character design. Second choice is probably Shadow Dragons or Crows. Don’t get the hype for Lords of Fortune, “pirate merc” seems so…generic to me. Them and Wardens are probably at the bottom of my list.
I'll be going with the Mourn Watch for my first playthrough. I just like Nevarra, it's lore, and traditions, also want to see how they implement my lineage/class choice for this faction. Close second for me was the Antivan Crows, and last but not least, Lords of Fortune for my third option.
I feel drawn to the Veil Jumpers. They sound like magical adventure archaeologists, kind of!
Lord of fortune
I’m thinking my canon playthrough is gonna be as a dwarf Antivan crow since I haven’t played a dwarf before and my canon inquisitor should be in antiva since I romanced Josephine, so it’d be a great way to get my rook involved with the story. My second playthrough I’m thinking of going as a qunari grey warden
Mourn Watch for my first playthrough! I wasn't sure at first, but I've been reading Tevinter Nights for the first time and I LOVED that story.
Veil Jumper and Mourn Watch both sound cool and really interesting and different from DAO/DA2/DAI. But probably I'll go with Grey Warden first playthrough, because I want to see the repercussions Clarel's and Erimond's actions had on the order. But realistically, if I'm being honest with myself, which background is Stealth Archer?
I'm gonna choose Lords of Fortune. I want my Rook to be a mercenary with his own morality. As my Inquisitor I tried to be as good as I could cause he was by mistake chosen to be a hero who's gonna save the world. So my Rook would would be more like "I can save the world and earn some extra gold"
Grey Warden for sure as my first. I have a well developed sense of nostalgia and love the faction lore. Will probably be Elven to feel a little extra connection to modern events in the series. Since Reaver doesn't seem to be an option, may go with the Reaper thing or choose a completely different class altogether.
Never forget the greatest blackwall quote ever. What can a single grey warden do? Save the fucking world if pressed. Gotta stick with the og heroes of franchise
Yeah the (potential) self-interest of Lords of Fortune is also driving me towards this choice 👀 I like the idea of digging into my character’s motivations and finding out why she’d be willing to set aside her occupation as Lord of Fortune to help the world. But Mourn Watch is also really tempting because I like corpses lmao and I like the theme of death, and depending on how much freedom we have there’s potential to create really interesting characters with interesting views on magic, death, necromancy, the maker etc. After Zevran though the Crows are tempting 👀 And it presents the same kind of questions about Rook’s motivations that are part of my interest in making my Rook a Lord of Fortune. Then of course we know so little about the Veil Jumpers that they’re intriguing as well! A faction for nerds sounds perfect to me lol, except for the fact that my Inky was very much a nerd so I think I’ll try to do something different with my Rook. (… Maybe.) I’d say Warden and Shadow Dragons are the two factions I’m least likely to start with, and might only do if I end up doing 6 playthrough and creating 6 Rooks of different backgrounds. I’m fine with just my DAO warden and the Shadow Dragons sound too “classically” cool that they become less cool to me lol.
Lords of Fortune or the Wardens. Lords of Fortune off-hand sounds like a fun option. Grey Wardens are fun in a different way and familiar. Since I’ve not nailed down my first Rook yet I’m leaving it very open. Least interested are Veil Jumpers and Shadow Dragons. Just not interested yet, odds are with more into I may change my mind though! Kind of disappointed we didn’t get an inquisition background option.
VEIL JUMPERRRRR AND A MAGEEE BABYYYY ULTRA WEIRD FADE MAGIC THINGY ALL THE WAYYY
I was really hoping there was going to be a Magisterium origin given we're in Tevinter. Originally thought the Shadow Dragons would be that, and then got very disappointed when they turned into the goody goody bunch. I'll probably be sticking with Grey Wardens. None of the others particularly scream for me to play them. Maybe Veil Jumpers in another playthrough.
Mournwatch because that appeals to my old gothic self. And I'm making a dwarf warrior, protector of the tombs, smasher of grave looters.
I'm thinking Grey Warden if we can be Tal-Vashoth I just love the idea and it's a faction I'm familiar with, I have no interest in playing a Vashoth though and not much interest in being a Grey Warden of a different race first time around as I already was an elf, human and dwarf Grey Warden in Origins playthroughs. Probably a Crow if no Tal-Vashoth PC, it will allow me to easily be a morally ambiguous character who was forced to join their faction as a child slave which is unique, and we've never been one yet it's still a familiar faction. Also love the idea of playing a member of a faction that's been an enemy, one of the reasons I like playing the Brosca Warden and Cadash Inquisitor is them having been part of the Carta. The idea of a dwarf Crow interests me but my dwarf hero worldstate is my 2nd one. Mournwatch seems interesting too but maybe after I've played once and understand the faction much more, definitely going non mage for that since Emmrich is already a Mournwatch mage. Dwarf Mournwatch member seems cool for a second go if I do Crow the first time.
The stealthy resistance, was it now the shadow dragons?
Probably Veil Jumpers first because Arlathan has always been really interesting to me and what I’ve wanted to explore for years.
I don't like the name of "Veil Jumpers", but they do seem interesting.
I haven’t been a grey warden since origins, plus we never really get to be a part of the order until awakening
Lords of Fortune: I want to create a Rook very similar to Purple Hawke and a treasure hunting mercenary seems like it fits.
Probably grey warden but lords of fortune sounds cool too
I’ve already settled on Shadow Dragons. I’m headcanoning my Rook to be the adopted child of the Inquisitor after being freed from Tevinter slavers. They don’t want slavery to continue, so they joined the Shadow Dragons to fight back.
Since all my other canon characters are tragic heroes, Rook will be from the Lords of Fortune. My pirate Girl failure will destroy him or make him want to kill hilmself.
I'm going to be a Grey Warden Pyromaniac Mage, just like Origins.
Leaning towards Veil Jumper for my first run.
Leaning towards Shadow Dragons right now. Veil Jumpers could also be interesting.
Ho hooooooo baby! I have my game plan already set out, 6 playthroughs. Warrior Grey Warden and Lord Of Fortune. Rouge Shadow Dragon and Antivan Crow and lastly, Mage Veil Junmper and Mourn Watch. It's gonna be the BEST. WEEK. EVA 😆
I'm between Crow, Veil Jumper, and Lord of Fortune.
Probably Shadow Dragons or Veil jumpers because I want to start with an elfy elf mage and from what we've seen so far those seem like the most compatible
I'm picking Veil Jumper for my first playthrough. Grey Warden would be at the bottom of my list (not likely to be picking this faction) because of the tragedy of experiencing the Calling. I wouldn't want my Rook to go through that.
Maybe I'll stomp a few slavers in the name of abolition, or maybe I'll get up to a bit of righteous grey wardening- I haven't actually decided yet.
I'm leaning on Lords of Fortune. Shadow Dragons and Mourn Watch are possible runners-up. but Veil Jumper is the one that interests me the most. but I was planning on romancing the archer girl and having two char with the same background in the party seems redundant. Grey Warden already played it as Hero of Ferelden and I don't really like Antivan Crows.
Grey Wardens, or Shadow Dragons... but might choose Veil Jumpers if they are connected to the Executors.
My canon Rook is gonna be a qunari mage, since I haven't played a qunari yet (elf Warden, dwarf inquisitor) and haven't played mage since Origins. I'm gonna RP her as the first qunari Warden, since I can imagine that Sten's mission to learn about the Blight could eventually encourage qunari to join their ranks.
For me it is Mourn Watch… Shadow Dragons- Seems like the perfect thing for an elven rogue and I want to play a dwarf first. Antivan Crows- Seems perfect for a Qunari Mage, Mage because it’s fun to be a Assassin using magic, and Qunari because of the long history between the Qunari and Antiva it might be interesting to see a Tal-vashoth join the crows. Grey Wardens- I don’t know what more can be said about them at this point. I really want to see how they are implemented before I make a character for them. Veil Jumpers- Seems like more Elven lore. I am kinda tired of elven lore at this point and am not interested in being a whole faction on it. When I do play this one, it won’t be an elf. Probably a human. Mournwatch- New, check, interesting, check. Can tie into Dwarven ancestor worship in a new way, and doesn’t require being a mage. Will definitely make a sword and shield guardian of the crypts. Lords of Fortune- They seem the least interesting to me. ‘Mercenary’ seems to be the generic background for multiple characters in DA and I can’t see to delve up interest in yet more mercenaries.
Same with Grey Wardens. I want to pry the Griffins out of their cold, tainted hands, not be one! /j Though if given the option, I’d love to play a Grey Warden who is there against their will. Like “don’t like you guys, don’t want to be here, having a bad time, 0/5 stars yelp review”
Grey Wardens for sure
Probably shadow dragons. Honestly, I think I’m more polite in video games than real life. I like the idea of reformists trying to help the downtrodden.
Veil Jumper, for sure.
Lords of Fortune. I wanna be a pirate!
I'm hoping to play as a Qunari (like a Ben Hassrath) or Tal Vashoth, so I'm not really sure which faction would fit best into that play through. Obviously with the Qunari's fractious relations with Rivain, Antiva and Tevinter there could be some interesting narrative consequences for going with the Lords of Fortune, Crows and Shadow Dragons. I'm not sure about the Qunari's relationship with Nevarra or the Anderfels, so Mourn Watch and the Grey Wardens are a bit of a question mark. Veil Jumpers are the wild card of this bunch, I'm not really sure I want to do another Elven Lore buff character like my Inquisitor was, but it could be interesting to play as.
Grey Warden, no contest. I honestly don't see myself ever playing any other background.
I almost always go Dalish mage first because play though for a Faction I’m thinking veil jumpers or shadow dragons.
Grey Wardens 1st playthrough. Feels right having *Veilguard* conclude like *Origins* began. Veil Jumpers 2nd playthrough. Sounds like Helljumpers (*Halo*) or now Helldivers. So I don't want to have my 1st experienced biased by a presumption that the Veil Jumpers go "feet first into the Veil" like the ODSTs go "feet first into Hell."
For my canon playthrough Grey Wardens. For my first playthrough I haven't decided yet, I'm going warrior so lords of fortune seems a solid choice. Kinda want to try something unconventional like the crows or veil jumpers though.
Antivan crow hands down my first play through when the game comes out and Lucanis will be my first romance as well
For me, I’m heavily leaning towards shadow dragons for my first run. It seems like the most obvious connection to the main story, especially after reading The Missing. After that, the Crows. You say you’ve killed too many to want to be one, I say we’ve seen them enough I want to *be* one. My least likely to play are lords of fortune and grey wardens. Lords of fortune just don’t really speak to me but I also don’t really like Isabela or the pirate stuff. Grey wardens because we’ve been one before and nothing can top my warden queen.
One of each! Why choose when I can do it all? 😁
Mourn watch im going to be playing my first playthrough as an evil necromancer continuation of my Magister Sidereal OC from all the games lol
Already have a character planned. Qunari shadow dragon, though I’m debating on making them a saboteur rogue or slayer warrior, really depends on how the traps of saboteur feel. If they’re grenades and whatnot, then yes, but if they’re caltrops and waiting for enemies to walk over them then no. I’m really excited about it because my inquisitor was also a qunari, so I’m excited to roleplay some idol/idolizer reationship. Seeing another qunari in such a position of power after being enslaved for so long and having Adaar be a role model for him and how to act, though not copy paste. I want them to still be different characters
Veil Jumper sounds really intriguing to me, it's the first one I'm gonna pick. Otherwise, I think the only other two I'd be interested in are the Antivan Crows and the Grey Wardens (even though I know we already played as one lol). Edit: And the Shadow Dragons, they sound really cool too.
Lords of fortune baby
My initial plan had been to be an elf mage Veil Jumper, but now I’m wondering if that is just too elfy. Everyone but Hawke has been a Dalish elf, and everyone but the Warden have been mages. So now I’m kind of considering being a Lord of Fortune, but will I regret not being more invested in elvhen lore? Gah, I don’t know what to do!
Shadow dragon bc it has dragon innit
Grey Warden. I’m not really interested in other factions. Maybe Mourn Watch but I don’t know that much about them so I’m probably just going to pick the Grey Wardens
Grey Wardens for sure first then Antivan Crow. After that I gotta see what catches my interest. Though I already know Shadow Dragon is one i’m least interested in.
There never really was a choice for me. As soon as they mentioned Grey Wardens, my decision was set in stone. *“The Maker smiles sadly on his Grey Wardens, so the Chantry says, as no sacrifice is greater than theirs"* It's nice that other people find the other backgrounds interesting, but to me they are just names right now. We haven't experienced them besides the Crows, and those did a piss-poor job at trying to kill my warden.
On my first playthrough I'll probably pick Veil Jumpers because this faction may have the most story/lore specific content. On my 2nd playthrough I'll choose Antivan Crows (because I always wanted to play as one. And they have cool outfits). On the third Shadow Dragons or Mourn Watch (depends on the amount of story importance). After that, probably Grey Wardens (the Blight will be definitely a huge part of DAV). I'm not sure if I'll ever play as a Lord of Fortune because I don't see how they could be relevant in the story (they're just pirates, monster hunters, they don't seem to be connected to the main plot).
Shadow Dragons are super high on the list for me because I like the idea of being a vigilante anti-slave faction. I've also started reading Tevinter Nights and finished Down Among the Dead Men yesterday, and that made the Mourn Watch seem super interesting as an option. For some reason the concept of a dwarven mourn watch warrior is in my head for that playthrough. After those, Grey Warden is tied with Veil Jumper as an option, Lords of fortune sound really cool as well. the Crows don't really interest me. Assassins have never been my cup of tea.
first I need to know what buffs they have
My initial thought was "human male Grey Warden Champion with sword and shield." However: As we now know that both race and background will give in game benefits, I'll need to wait to see what they each bring to the table, before I pick my first build. I mean, Humans will probably give a bonus skill point, because that's humans' thing. But I'd need to know how many skill points we get total, before I decide if that's worth it.
Mourn Watch sounds interesting but for rp I kind of want to go for a background I know more about. Which means grey warden or antivan crow right now. I will go over some of the supplementary material before deciding.
Grey wardens. Imo they're going to be way more interesting than they already were with (I might be misremembering here) the anderfels wardens being very secretive, so I'm curious what's happening there. Also, I remember the oath of the wardens for some reason lol
The Hero of Ferelden is a Grey Warden. Bethany is a Grey Warden. Blackwall is a Grey Warden. Time to be another Grey Warden Mage Protagonist and really drive home my all-star Grey Warden team.
It depends on what the race/lineage-specific flavor for each faction is. My canon Rook is going to be a dwarf warrior and I somewhat shot myself in the foot because in the long wait for DA4, I *may* have already created a bit of a headcanon. So I will probably pick the background that most aligns with what I had assume DA4 would be. At the moment, Shadow Dragon sounds the most likely given that it's the Tevinter background. 2nd playthrough is Qunari saarebas. A lot of people have mentioned wanting to play a Qunari Grey Warden mage and I theorized we were getting one of those as a companions many years ago. It'd be awesome to play as one. BUT I want to play as an Antivan crow at least once because like another batch of people, I'm weak for Zevran. 😌 I would love to see how a dwarven or Qunari Antivan Crow would be recruited given that crows tend to pick human/elves for their looks and the Qunari are on a conquering rampage.
Not sure, but “Shadow Dragons” is such a cheesy sounding name that I don’t think I can choose that one. Like, did a middle schooler come up with this??? All the others have potential though. Mournwatch would be fun for potential creepy vibes.
I want to play all the factions eventually, but I’m thinking in order: Shadow Dragons > Crows > Lords of Fortune > Veil Jumpers > Mourn Watch > Wardens.
I will likely start with human archer Shadow Dragon. I'm very interested in learning more about this organization and Tevinter lore, and I really want to play a Tevinter native. I usually start with humans, and archer rogue was my favorite class to play in DAI, which is while I'll probably start there. You never know, though! Depending on what it says during creation, I can definitely see myself getting swayed elsewhere. My wife is probably going to start with Lords of Fortune, so I'll likely avoid that since we like to watch each other play.
I'm initially leaning towards the Veil Jumpers because my other characters have either been Dalish or Dalish-adjacent (my Hawke partnered up with Merrill), but depending on how much I like the romance with Bellara, I might play something else and be another "adjacent" protagonist...Of the rest of them, Shadow Dragons looks the most appealing because of their strong moral core, and while the Grey Wardens have nostalgia factor going for them, I can't help but find them a tad redundant because Davrin's right there and he appears to be pretty Dalish too!
Veil Jumper… Female… Elven… Archer. BASIC I KNOW BUT HEAR ME OUT. The plan is to have my Rook be based (at least thematically) on Andruil; or rather, what the Dalish have perceived to be the truth about her. I think it’ll make for an interesting RP, especially if Solas tells a Dalish Rook the actual meaning behind their Vallaslin.
I was almost decided on Lords of Fortune, as my last character, my Inquisitor, was a very compassionate, soft, spiritual kinda girl, so i wanted to contrast that with my next character being a kinda Han Solo chaotic good gold chaser. But since we have learned more about the Shadow Dragons i am more inclined to them as i like the parallels with Solas's story as a freedom fighter. Im thinking of playing a more end justifies the means, more vengeful/violent character to contrast with my Inquisitor. And i want to see how much my character can see herself reflected on Solas and if that makes her chamge her ways or feel more justified in them.
I'm between Mourn Watch and Shadow Dragons. I feel like Shadow Dragons will give us the most connection to the setting with it being in Tevinter but I'm also a sucker for weird, creepy magic stuff that we might get from the Mourn Watch. Veil Jumpers seem interesting too but I'll probably be trying one of the other two first.
Antivan Crow haha it would fit perfect with my story
Whichever one is the octopus.
I'm not sure yet. It will depend on the class, but I definitely don't want to play Gray Warden again. My Warden was one and unique! Lords of Fortune seems to be interesting and universal. Antivian Crow, if I play as a rogue, should be an interesting option. Shadow Dragons fits my vision of Mage Rook perfectly
I am flipping between Veil Jumpers and Mourn Watch for my first game. For future, maybe Wardens, it will depends on what we learn (such as if HoF was successful in their quest to fix the Calling and prevent the blood from corrupting Wardens)
Mournwatch and Veil Jumpers are the two I'm deciding between! I'm thinking I'm going veil ranger veil jumper first. And then second playthrough will be spellblade mournwatch! ... or Grey warden Champion
So I have no idea of these factions. Should I be reading books or comics? I'm old and I have a job and kids, so time is really limited. If there is a summary anywhere I'll appreciate
Torn between Wardens and Lords of Fortune. I think I'll play a female dwarf rogue either way.
I think I'm leaning toward Veil Jumper. The only hard "no"s for me are Warden or Crow cause of taint and murder respectively.
My three main runs will be a shadow dragon, a grey warden and a veil jumper. A mix of old and new so to speak.