Dragon Age The Veilguard Combat Combos Guide Skill Detonation Tips

Master the art of battlefield domination in Dragon Age: The Veilguard by unleashing devastating skill combos that can stagger, weaken, and incinerate your foes. From the brutal synergy of Lucanis and Davrin’s Eviscerate and Heroic Strike to the fiery devastation of Taash and Emmrich’s Dragonfire Strike and Entangling Spirits, learn how to strategically apply and detonate status effects like Overwhelmed, Weakened, and Sundered to control the fight and crush enemies with explosive power.

How to apply and detonate skills

To apply and detonate skills in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you first need to use a skill that “applies” a status effect (known as a primer) to an enemy, such as Overwhelm, Sundered, or Weakened. This primes the target for a powerful combo. Then, you follow up with a “detonate” skill that triggers an explosive effect on the primed enemy, dealing significant damage and often affecting an area around the target. The key is to use the apply skill first and then the detonate skill to create this synergy. You can identify these skills by their icons in the Ability Wheel, and the game highlights combo opportunities when both primer and detonator skills are ready. This mechanic becomes available after progressing to the third chapter and is essential for maximizing damage, especially against tough foes.

Your companions all have a couple of abilities that work even better when paired with someone else’s. Some skills either apply or detonate one of three effects: Overwhelm, Sundered, or Weakened. Applying an effect primes the target for an explosion, and then another skill can detonate that effect for a bunch of extra damage. By default, these explosions only affect the target, but as you level up your companions’ skills, you can convert them to deal damage over an area.

When applied, these priming effects impact your target in different ways. Overwhelm means the target takes additional stagger damage, Sundered means the target takes more damage in general, and Weakened reduces their damage output. But detonating a combo results in the same explosion.

The easiest way to see this is in the Ability Wheel (R1/RB or tab). If you or your companions have any skills ready to go (not on cooldown) that can pull off a prime-detonate combo, they’ll be highlighted with arrows and a flag that says combo opportunity. The order you select the abilities matters here, so make sure you pick the applies first, and then the detonates after.

Like we said in our beginner’s tips, fights in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are kind of a wash until they’re not anymore. These combos are a great way to give yourself an edge once the fights get hard.

All apply and detonate skills list

In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, apply and detonate skills form the core of powerful combo attacks that significantly enhance combat effectiveness. These skills either apply (prime) or detonate one of three status effects-Overwhelm, Sundered, or Weakened-on enemies. Applying an effect primes the target, setting it up for a detonation by another skill, which triggers an explosive effect causing extra damage and additional debuffs. Each effect impacts enemies differently: Overwhelm increases stagger damage, Sundered raises damage taken, and Weakened reduces their damage output. Characters and companions have specific abilities that either apply or detonate these effects, and the game highlights combo opportunities in the Ability Wheel to help players chain them effectively. Mastering these combos is crucial for gaining an edge in tougher battles, as the right sequence of apply and detonate skills can turn the tide of combat.

Your player characters will have seven to nine abilities that will either apply or detonate an effect, depending on the class you chose during character creation. All of your companions will have two each.

The full list of the abilities that can create combos are:

Combos in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are a vital combat mechanic that involves applying a primer effect on enemies and then detonating it with a follow-up skill to deal increased damage and additional effects. Each companion has unique abilities that can either apply or detonate status effects such as Sundered, Weakened, or Overwhelmed, which amplify damage, reduce enemy damage output, or increase stagger damage respectively. For example, pairing Lucanis’ Eviscerate with Davrin’s Heroic Strike can immobilize and heavily damage foes by detonating the Overwhelmed status. Mastering the order of skill use and combining these effects strategically allows players to control the battlefield and maximize damage output, often turning the tide of challenging fights.

How can mastering combo attacks like Eviscerate and Heroic Strike turn battles in Dragon Age

Mastering combo attacks like Eviscerate and Heroic Strike in Dragon Age: The Veilguard can decisively turn battles by exploiting the game’s primer-and-detonator combo system to maximize damage and control enemies. For example, Heroic Strike applies the Overwhelmed status effect, which increases stagger damage taken by enemies, while Eviscerate detonates that effect, causing a powerful explosion that damages multiple foes and disrupts their attacks. This synergy not only amplifies raw damage output but also enhances crowd control, allowing players to stagger groups of enemies and gain the upper hand in combat. Additionally, combining these combos with runes and companion abilities can further boost damage and efficiency, making it easier to dismantle tough opponents and bosses.

How do primer and execute skills enhance combo damage in Dragon Age

Primer and execute (detonator) skills in Dragon Age: The Veilguard enhance combo damage by working together in a two-step process where the primer skill applies a specific status effect (such as Overwhelmed, Weakened, or Sundered) to an enemy, and the execute skill detonates that effect to trigger a powerful bonus attack. This synergy not only deals extra damage but often adds special effects like area damage, crowd control, or damage over time depending on the combo type. For example, warriors typically apply the Overwhelmed status as primers, which rogues can then detonate for massive damage, while mages apply Weakened to be detonated by warriors. The system encourages mixing party classes to maximize these combos, with each class specializing in different primers and detonators, allowing for strategic layering of effects and devastating follow-up attacks.