The ability wheel offers many “strategic possibilities” and “powerful combinations of abilities between players and their companions.”
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is now Dragon Age: The Veilguard and will receive its official 15-minute gameplay reveal on June 11th. In the meantime, BioWare general manager Gary McKay provided some snippets of information to IGN, including that players can have two companions in battle (down from Dragon Age: Inquisition’s three) and assign orders to them.
“As an RPG, strategy in combat is important as you bring two companions to every fight. Each companion brings unique powers and abilities that have a direct impact on how you choose to take down the enemies at hand.”
Furthermore, the ability wheel is coming back. Bringing it up will pause the action, and on top of accessing your abilities, it’s also useful for “powerful combinations” of the same between the whole party.
“The ability wheel opens up a huge amount of strategic possibilities, giving players the ability to control the flow of combat and link powerful combinations of abilities between players and their companions that can quickly turn the tide of any battle. We think we’ve found an exciting balance between fun, fluidity and strategy for every encounter,” said McKay.
It already sounds like an improvement from Inquisition, which lacked an ability wheel and locked players to eight abilities. With its seven companions serving as the primary focus, it’s reasonable to expect more than three classes overall. As always, time will tell, so stay tuned for updates this Tuesday.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s platforms and release window haven’t been announced. However, it is rumored to launch later this year.