As is tradition with Bioware titles, there are multiple possible endings in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. One of these is what is considered the ‘best’ ending where Rook, all of the faction leaders, and all but one of the companions survive. This best ending is fairly difficult to accomplish and requires a great deal of questing and grinding for party XP, as well as loot for trading.
This guide has everything you need to know about keeping almost everyone alive in Dragon Age: The Veilguard in order to unlock the Achievement/Trophy ‘The Ones That Last’.
Maximum Faction Strength
Maximum Faction Strength is a critical part of the puzzle for getting the best ending, with factions that are upgraded all the way to 3200 points or the full three stars, providing the best outcome. While you can make much of that XP progress through basic questing over the course of the game, whether through story, companion, or faction quests, you will still not maximize the score for each and every unaffiliated faction that way.
That leaves trading with the faction merchant as your only recourse. Selling the merchant most items grants 3 Faction Strength, with certain faction-preferred objects netting 15 Faction Strength. With six factions to level up, you will need to farm a whole lot of loot to make up the difference.
Faction Strength first comes into play in the quest ‘When Plans Align’ when you rally against Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain, and is quantified as “Allied Strength”. This directly determines the survivability of faction leaders and possibly other NPCs in battle, later on in ‘The Last Gambit’.
Save Minrathous With Neve Or Treviso With Lucanis
This decision is presented to you at the conclusion of the main quest ‘A Warden’s Best Friend’. The branching path tasks you with choosing to either assist Neve in saving Minrathous and the Shadow Dragons, or help Lucanis in rescuing Treviso and the Antivan Crows, with the decision having profound effects on the game world.
Not only does the choice determine which of two High Dragons you will face, it also leads to the ruination of the city that was not chosen, including completely losing access to their faction merchant.
You must elect to go with Neve to save Minrathous and the Shadow Dragons, as salvaging your relationship with the Antivan Crows of Treviso is much easier for the most part. However, be warned that you will be permanently locked out of a romance with Lucanis. The Faction Strength penalty for ignoring the Antivan Crows is also much lower.
Without the presence of the Shadow Dragons merchant in Minrathous, it would be next to impossible to patch up their faction relationship to the full three stars with just the Faction Strength gained from questing, by the endgame.
There is also an entire storyline as well as multiple side quests that are lost if Minrathous falls, beginning with ‘The Soul Of A City’. Completion of those quests also unlocks the same named Achievement/Trophy ‘The Soul Of A City’.
Ideally, you will grind out the Faction Strength of the Antivan Crows to the maximum possible by that point, before having to make the final choice to sacrifice their home of Treviso. Faction questing and loot farming to sell preferred items to the Antivan Crows merchant is the best course of action to take in anticipation of that decision.
Achieve Hero Of The Veilguard With All Companions
Hero of the Veilguard is the final outcome of performing all of the companion quests. Here too, you will be making a binary decision that determines what perk and armor reward the companion receives.
The perks, armor, and simply being Heroes of the Veilguard can potentially be the difference between life and death for your companions in the final act.
Complete Regrets of the Dread Wolf Side Quest
This long side quest eventually brings you before the High Dragon Mythal’s Retribution, but in her humanoid form. Ideally you will attempt to convince Mythal to grant you Mythal’s Essence instead of having to fight her in her dragon form, as this will earn you Mythal’s Favor which comes in handy later, and will also unlock the Achievement/Trophy ‘Clear Minds And Open Hearts’.
No matter what you do, one companion will die at this point, but this will not impact getting the best possible ending and its associated Achievement/Trophy. This is the companion selected to be on the distraction team and can be a choice between either Harding or Davrin. You will need Harding by your side, so Davrin is the better sacrificial lamb.
As for the ward takedown team, the choice is between either Bellara or Neve. The chosen companion will not die if they have Hero of the Veilguard status, but they will be left out of the team until rescued later on. You will need Neve by your side for what is yet to come, so Bellara is the preferred choice.
The Last Gambit
This is where the Hero of the Veilguard status of companions and the Allied Strength of factions work in tandem to determine survivability of both companions and faction leaders. When it comes to faction assignments, the best choices are:
- Emmrich with the Veil Jumpers to disable the magical wards
- You could also send Taash as a protector instead
- Lucanis with the Lords of Fortune and the Shadow Dragons to contend with the Venatori master
- If you opted to let Minrathous and the Shadow Dragons fall, then the Antivan Crows replace them
- You could also send Emmrich as a mage-fighter instead
- Harding with the Grey Wardens and the Mourn Watch for disabling the Juggernaut Construct
- You could also send Taash as a giant-killer instead
The Dread Wolf Rises
Leave Taash behind to defend the Divine’s Manor, and take your choice of the surviving companions with you, ideally Neve and Harding, to face Elgar’nan.
After the battle ends, Bellara should re-emerge and the Achievement/Trophy ‘The Ones That Last’ should finally unlock.
Those are all the pivotal choices to make in order to get the best ending in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.