Dragon Age: Veilguard Stats Reveal You Monsters Are Ignoring The Griffon

It’s not terribly surprising to me that Neve, the Tevinter mage detective, ended up at the top. But I am devastated to see my man Davrin so low. Y’all don’t know what you’re missing. More for me, fuck y’all. Anyway, Emmrich, the older gentleman of the group is on the very bottom, which isn’t surprising given some cowards would likely view him as “too old” for protagonist Rook. But worry not, he is no doubt getting love from his loyal fans. The romance rankings are as follows:

1. Neve
2. Lucanis
3. Taash
4. Harding
5. Bellara
6. Davrin
7. Emmrich

BioWare is pretty thorough in this breakdown, documenting every major choice in the game. This includes the companion’s personal quests. First up is Bellara, who, at the end of her missions, must choose whether or not to preserve an archive spirit that includes some pretty dark moments in elven history. Most players chose to keep it, with 56 percent of players telling her to make that call. 44 chose to free the spirit in the end.

Jail. Jail for all of you. Okay, just 54 percent of you. Emmrich, the necromancer of the team, must choose at the end of his questline to either become a Lich, an immortal necromancer that Emmrich has been studying his whole life to become, or revive Manfred, his skeleton assistant who is killed in a scrap. 54 percent of Veilguard players chose to let Manfred stay dead so Emmrich could keep pursuing his dream of becoming an immortal mage, and that means Manfred didn’t come back to be Emmrich’s protege mage son. Shame on y’all. Shame!

Okay, I’m calming down now. Davrin, the Grey Warden teammate, spends his quests saving the last known griffons from a fate worse than death. In the end, he asks Rook if they should be returned to the Wardens to help fight darkspawn as they did in the past, or if they should be taken to Arlathan Forest to protect nature. 67 percent of players sent them to Arlathan. Good job, team.

Lucanis, the Antivan Crow assassin of the team, spends much of his time in The Veilguard dealing with family politics. This includes a betrayal at the hands of his cousin Illario. Lucanis is able to either forgive him for his transgressions or lock him up. An overwhelming 78 percent chose the latter, with 22 percent opting for a more peaceful approach.

Taash spends most of The Veilguard pulled between two worlds. Their whole deal through their personal quest is finding out who they are, whether that be in their identity as a non-binary person, or as someone who is split between their Qunari heritage and Rivani present. Rook can nudge them in one direction or the other, but 79 percent of players chose to encourage them to lean into Rivani culture.

Neve is basically Dragon Age Batman by the end of her quests. Tevinter’s greatest detective can either become a “protector” of the people, opting for more of a shadowy approach, or an “inspiration” to the people by operating as a private investigator. Most people went the protector route, with 61 percent of players going this route.

Harding’s quest dives into some deep dwarven lore and answers big questions about the history of her people. By the end, she must choose whether or not to take on the lingering anger of her people or soothe it. Given how kindhearted Harding is, I’m not surprised that 84 percent of players saw her embrace her nature.

One of the earliest choices you get in the game’s opening hours is whether or not you save a Mayor who sold out his village to the elven gods. 42 percent of players chose to leave him to the elements (which can result in a boss fight against him later), 36 saved him, then 22 percent of players banished him to the Grey Wardens. The last of those is only available if your Rook is from the Grey Wardens.

The choice between saving either Minrathous or Treviso is one of the earliest decisions that has ramifications throughout all of The Veilguard. Choosing one or the other means the city you don’t protect will be blighted and altogether fucked up for the rest of the game. It was a slim difference, with Treviso coming out ahead with 51 percent. To that, I say “as a Shadow Dragon, fuck y’all.”

The First Warden is a colossal pain in the butt during The Veilguard’s first act. When it finally comes to handling him during the assault on the Warden base in Weisshaupt, Rook can either knock him out and take control of the stronghold or reason with him. 64 percent of players rightfully punched his lights out.

There are two choices at the beginning of The Veilguard’s final missions that require you to sacrifice two of your party members. One choice has you assign Harding or Davrin to lead a second team during an assault on the elven god’s base, the other makes you assign either Bellara or Neve to handle a magical barrier. Whoever you choose will be sacrificed (one presumed dead, the other abducted by the enemy), and the split was surprisingly bigger than I expected. Most players chose Harding, with 54 percent of players putting the dwarven rogue in charge, leaving Davrin presumed dead in only 46 percent of playthroughs. Bellara, meanwhile, was kidnapped in most playthroughs, with 58 percent of players choosing her over the 42 percent who chose Neve.

After all that heartbreak and loss, The Veilguard asks players to once again put their companions in the line of fire with a final assault on Minrathous. This includes multiple assignments that have a good or bad outcome depending on who you choose, if they have achieved “Hero of the Veilguard” status, and if your faction strength has reached a certain threshold. From the looks of it, most people are making the right choices for these, but here’s the breakdown:

Top three choices to accompany the Veil Jumpers and unravel the Venatori Wards: 

• Emmrich
• Neve
• Bellara

Top three companions chosen to join the Antivan Crows in hunting the Venatori commander:

• Lucanis
• Taash
• Emmrich

Top three chosen to join forces with the Wardens and Mourn Watch to fight the Juggernaut:

• Taash
• Davrin
• Emmrich

Top three companions chosen to stay behind for the counter-attack:

• Taash
• Davrin
• Harding

After all that carnage, Solas, the ex-party member turned antagonist, still wants to tear down The Veil and unleash a horde of demons on Thedas. If you sought out Solas’ memories in the Crossroads and obtained the essence of Mythal, you’re able to talk him down, which most people did. Over 72 percent of players made this choice. However, if you either didn’t do those quests or just feel like fucking him up, you can either fight him or trick him with a decoy lyrium dagger into binding himself to The Veil. 17 percent of players chose to trick him, while only eight percent chose to take him on in a fight.

The remaining three percent got the “sacrifice” ending, which ends in Rook sacrificing themself to ensure Solas is bound to The Veil. This is only possible if you lose too many people in the assault on Minrathous.

Within those 72 percent of players who redeemed Solas, 43 percent of players had an Inquisitor who romanced Solas and joined him in The Fade. 57 percent of players had an Inquisitor who either romanced someone else (or no one) or didn’t convince the Inquisitor to forgive him.

The last statistics BioWare included in its roundup were the interactions players had with Assan, Davrin’s griffon son, and Manfred. Only 50 percent of players pet Assan and a criminal 31 percent of people played Rock Paper Scissors with Manfred. Y’all need to go hang out with the Lighthouse pets. Jail to all of you.

While pouring over the results of all of these decisions is exciting, it remains to be seen how any of these outcomes might factor into a future game. Personally, I’m holding out hope that Rook will return as a protagonist in the next Dragon Age, which could allow for more of these characters and choices to show up in meaningful ways. But whatever’s coming is still years away as BioWare is now shifting focus to the next Mass Effect game and isn’t making any DLC for The Veilguard.