The best early game weapons for warriors in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Important takeaways

• The Executioner's Blade is an early game purchase at the Antivan Crow Faction Vendor in Treviso, perfect for Shield-Bearer Rooks.
• The Dark Shard buffs necrotic damage and spreads affliction, found in the Sea of ​​Blood quest in the Ossuary.
• The Hard Way sword is easy to grab and powerful, reducing the enemy's defense with each strike, allowing for extra damage at 0 defense.

Warrior in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are powerful vanguards and fighters who cleave their enemies with brute force, and for that to happen they need the best weapons to make the most of their abilities. In the earlier stages of the game, it is not always possible to get the perfect weapon, but there are various early game options for those playing a Warrior Rook.

Warriors use one-handed blades, pickaxes, axes, and shields, and they may also carry a two-handed weapon such as a Greataxe, a Warhammer, or a Polearm. This directory lists eight of the best weapons players can obtain during the early game, with information on how to find them, builds, and a full description of their perks.

8 Executioner's Blade

The standard one-handed sword

• Uncommon: +30% charged attack damage
• Rare: +25% Stagger dealt by charged attacks
• Epic: Charged attacks deal critical damage against overwhelmed enemies
• Legendary: Charged attacks deal bonus damage relative to the enemy's Stagger

The Executioner's Blade can be purchased for 600 gold from the Antivan Crow Faction Vendor, in Treviso. This blade is a standard sword and deals more damage with Charged attacks, which in turn deals severe damage to Stagger Bar Depleted targets. The first two benefits of this sword are easy to obtain in the earlier stages of the game as there are several copies of this Blade both in Minrathous and Treviso in early missions.

This blade is ideal for those players looking to build a shield bearer rook, which is a solid choice for those looking to counter and generate more Takedowns. There are plenty of perks in the Warrior Skill Tree that take advantage of causing Stagger, and others that generate Health and Ultimate energy every time players perform a Takedown, so Executioner's Blade is meant to be a core point of these builds.

7 The dark shard

Good in early game, broken in late game

• Uncommon: +15% necrotic resistance
• Rare +15% Necrotic damage
• Epic: Critical hits apply Necrosis if not already applied
• Legendary: Whenever Necrosis is applied to a target, instead of an Ailment deals 100 Necrotic damage in an area around them

This sword is ideal for those warriors looking to invest in the Reaper build, which focuses on generating necrotic damage and spreading this scourge across the battlefield. The Dark Shards give Necrotic Damage power and as it becomes more powerful it spreads it over other enemies every time Rook scores a critical hit. Since there are many abilities that guarantee a critical hit with a shield throw, this can be really powerful, as it would unleash a necrotic explosion on large groups of enemies.

The Dark Shard can be found in one of the first Companion Recruitment Quests, Sea Of Blood, in the Ossuary. After rescuing Lucani's Dellamorte, continue forward and reach the first plateau of the Upper Inner Cells. After defeating the demons, look for a chest containing the first copy of this sword. Subsequent copies are available throughout the adventure, and these will strengthen the weapon's stats and unlock more properties.

6 The hard way

The best one handed weapon, easy to get

• Unique Benefit 1: Permanently reduces the target's defense by 5 on hit
• Unique Perk 2: Enemies with 0 defense are damaged for an additional 50% damage

Maybe the best gun players can come early. It's in the same location as The Point, in Treviso, so getting there once players have completed the Sea of ​​Blood Quest is pretty easy. Every hit with this weapon will effectively reduce the enemies' defense permanently, meaning it doesn't rely on a counter, or decay over time: it just drops and stays there. This means that if a High Dragon comes roaring in front of the wielder of this blade and has 150 armor, it can lose all of its defenses when the players finish their third 10-hit combo on them.

To make things even better, when enemies hit 0 Defense, they take an additional 50% damage, calculated from the total damage Rook deals with each hit. That's why this weapon is so powerful, and players shouldn't underestimate it, as its base damage will also scale with their level, meaning they don't need to invest resources to turn it on.

5 Raider's Cleaver

Pick an axe, make them bleed

• Uncommon: +15% damage vs health
• Rare: Final attacks apply Bleeding if not already applied
• Epic: +10% critical damage is added for each bleeding enemy near you
• Legendary: Your critical damage bonus is also applied to all bleed damage

The Raider's Cleaver is found in the second chest when completing In Entropy's Graps, Bellara's Introductory Quest. This one-handed ax is perfect for warriors looking for a Bleed build, and as it grows in power, so do its perks. The first perk deals extra damage to enemies that don't have armor or barrier. The second advantage will apply Bleeding with every last attack, that is, the last attack in a singular combo chain.

Then the third perk is one of the most broken in the entire game, it adds an extra +10% of Critical Damage for every bleeding enemy surrounding the Rook. And finally, the legendary perk makes the Bleeding damage DoT benefit from the Critical Damage bonus and become even more brutal. Pair this weapon with the Bleeding Shard Ring to wreak havoc on the battlefield.

4 Crystalline story axe

Most Broken Two-Handed Weapons

• Uncommon: +15% cold resistance
• Rare: Necrotic bonus also affects this weapon's base damage
• Epic: Charged attacks apply Chilled
• Legendary: When applying Chilled, also apply Necrosis. Necrosis now deals cold damage.

During the Quest “Missing Relic Case”, following Neve Gallus through the streets of Minrathou will cause players to visit several market stalls. Between them is a blacksmith shop well hidden, near the other location where Neve needs to investigate a vision. If players browse that shop, they will be able to purchase their first Crystalline Greataxe for 1050 gold. And trust me, this is the best investment they can make.

The ax is powerful and deals cold damage instead of physical damage, freezing the Warriors and crushing enemies around them. But since this weapon unlocks more perks, it also causes Chilled to apply Necrosis and turns Necrosis damage into Cold Damage, which is pretty broken if players mix Reaper with Mourn Watch Perks, with some Lords of Fortune Perks as well.

3 Fade affected War Axe

A reliable option for critical hits

• Uncommon: +15% damage vs health
• Rare: Gain precision kills with this weapon
• Epic: +50% damage against low health enemies while Precision is active
• Legendary: While Precision is active, critical attacks against enemies with low health are fatal

A powerful and reliable two-handed weapon, easy to obtain while going through the “In Entropy's Grasp” Quest. Another of these weapons is sold by the Veil Jumper Faction vendor, and players can upgrade what they find during Bellara's Recruitment Quest fairly early on.

As this ax becomes more powerful by unlocking its perks, it activates the precision combat advantage each time Rook kills an enemy with the weapon. Precision makes the next attack a guaranteed critical, so players can use this buff endlessly during combat, moving from one enemy to the next and crushing them with ease.

2 Sentinel's Glory

Perfect for perfect bench builds

• Uncommon: +15% physical resistance
• Rare: Deal 250 Stagger to your target on Perfect Defense
• Epic: Deal 250 Stagger around you on Perfect Defense
• Legendary: Stunning an enemy nullifies their defenses for the duration

Warrior can specialize in swinging a shield and doing Perfect Counters, i.e. blocking at the last moment and causing Staggering, then immediately attacking to unleash a powerful combo that deals extra damage. Sentinel's Glory is specially designed for those players who want to go against everything to beat the game.

The Shield can be found early on, during the Spirits of the Dalish quest, and a second and third upgrade fairly early going through Act 2, so there's no need to spend the entire game looking for additional copies. Once players unlock the third perk, it's all about blocking at the right time and unleashing powerful counters and Takedowns. The ideal shield for tanks.

1 Skirmisher's Round

For those who want a shield throw

• Uncommon: +15% Ranged attack damage
• Rare: +15% weak point damage
• Epic: +20% stun on weak points
• Legendary: Shield Toss damage increases with each bounce

For those players looking to create the perfect Shield-Toss build, this shield specializes in improving the Warriors' ranged damage with this ability. Offers not only extra Ranged Damage but more Weakpoint Damage and extra stagger every time players throw a shield at enemies.

This shield can be found in the ruins during the “In Entropy's Grasp” quest, and then another copy can be purchased from the Veil Jumper's in Arlathan's Camp. A third and fourth copy can be found as players progress through Bellara's Companion Quests, and a final copy during the Blood of Arlathan Main Quest.