BioWare’s upcoming RPG, Dragon Age 4, got a little more time in the spotlight at Gamescom last week, with a new trailer showing some behind the scenes footage, interviews, and concept art for the next installment in the fantasy franchise.
While fans can expect to see many familiar faces as they return to Thedas, there have also been some big hints that some major changes could be coming to the world of Dragon Age 4. Mages in particular will likely have a very different presence in the game and could provide a very new roleplaying experience that departs from their iterations in the previous games.
Dwarven Mages
In Dragon Age: Inquisition’s The Descent DLC, players return to the Dwarven city of Orzammar and venture further into the Deep Roads than ever before in search of an earthquake-causing Titan. By the end of the DLC, it is revealed that the very tunnels they have been exploring form some kind of macro-organism, with the nodes of Lyrium throughout running like blood through its veins.
A Dwarf named Shaper Valta accompanies the player during the DLC, and towards the end of the narrative is struck by a vein of pure Lyrium. She is then able to push the Inquisitor back with some kind of magical blast that the player character can identify as resembling a “spell”, though the Shaper is not keen to make the connection.
Dragon Age Dwarves have never been able to become mages so far, as their ancestral exposure to Lyrium through their mines has given them a form of magical resistance that severs them from the Fade. However, Shaper Valta appears to show another possible route for Dwarves to wield magic by harnessing the power of the Titans.
This could mean that not only will players have the opportunity to play as a Dwarf mage in Dragon Age for the first time, but that choosing this origin could have some unique implications that makes this path distinct from mages of other races. The Descent seems to hint at a way the Dwarves could reconcile the use of magic with their strictly conservative culture, considering themselves to be children of the Titans as Valta does rather than directly channeling magic from the Fade.
The Tevinter Imperium
It is likely that Dragon Age 4 will take place in the Tevinter Imperium, the Empire north of Ferelden. Unlike in Ferelden where mages are taken away at a young age and trained by the Circle of Magi under the watch of the Templars, Tevinter is ruled by mages. Though the state’s relationship with the mages has fluctuated over the years, it has been established that by the year 7:34 Storm all laws that stopped mages from participating in the government had been overturned.
This could mean that players who choose to play as a mage in Dragon Age 4 will, for the first time, be treated with more reverence and respect than the suspicion and disdain they have become familiar with throughout the world of Dragon Age. For players who have rolled as mages throughout the first three games, Tevinter could come as a unique new roleplaying experience, and could allow them to immerse themselves more in their new player character. Further, the outcome of the war between the mages and the Chantry in Dragon Age: Inquisition is decided by the player, but no matter what they choose the landscape for mages is likely to be very different in Dragon Age 4 in Tevinter itself and beyond.
The outcome of the war, plus the potential for the newly gained Dwarven ability to wield magic, plus the inclusion of Tevinter and its magical government could provide some fantastic new roleplaying opportunities that could breathe new life into the Dragon Age franchise more than a decade after the release of Dragon Age: Origins.
Dragon Age 4 is currently in development.