February 2023 was an eventful month for players anticipating the release of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, as gameplay footage and screenshots were leaked to Reddit. These materials gave players a lot of information about the latest installment in the Dragon Age franchise, like revamped gameplay mechanics, animation quality, UI improvements, and special abilities. However, the most significant change hinted at in the leak was a possible rework of the class system for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
According to the Reddit user who posted the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf leak, the footage and screenshots supposedly come from a playtester who got the materials before they were assigned to another project. As such, the full video wasn’t released to protect the identity of the person who provided the footage. Still, they did manage to show a possible alteration to the game’s classes, which may now be based on the game’s major factions. Obviously, this information should be taken with a grain of salt, though it is certainly worth speculating about.
Factions May Now Be Tied to Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’s Classes
The Reddit leak showed a glimpse of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’s character screen, which highlighted the player’s level, stats, and items. Some details are blurred out, like the character’s level, guard, armor, health, and EXP. It also indicates that the player is a Grey Warden, which is a faction made up of warriors that specialize in fighting darkspawn. As such, some fans are speculating that the faction a player chooses could determine their class. For example, if they want to be a warrior, they should join the Grey Wardens, or if they want to be the rogue, they should sign up to be part of the Antivan Crows.
Some fans argue that the faction determining the player’s class may be limiting in terms of role-playing. After all, many factions in the game have characters that fit the mage, rogue, and warrior archetypes in their ranks. As such, some may speculate that the faction the player joins could determine what kind of class they can select, like in Dragon Age: Origins. For example, if they decide to be part of the Grey Wardens or the Crows, they could select any class. If they want to be a part of the Tevinter in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, they have no choice but to be a mage.
Choosing a Faction Early Could Make Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’s First Chapter Unique for Each Player
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf could go full Origins and have a chapter one that’s based on the player’s chosen faction instead of race. For example, if they’re a Tevinter mage, they could be fulfilling their duties as a magister’s apprentice. A Crow rogue may find themselves deep undercover in enemy territory, while Grey Warden warriors could be fighting off darkspawn. This would be great for the game’s replayability, as the player could just pick a different faction for their next playthrough to get a completely different experience in terms of lore.
There’s not much known about Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’s gameplay outside of teaser trailers and leaks. There hasn’t been any official news about whether the sequel will have the same classes as the previous games (rogue, mage, and warrior). However, recent leaks have fans speculating that the player may choose a faction at the start of the game. Whatever their faction is, it may affect which class they select.
Some even speculate that factions could replace classes, wherein if a player picks a Grey Warden, they’d have the abilities of a warrior archetype, or if they decide to be a Crow, they would have rogue-like skills. The leaks have already shown that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will feature hack-and-slash combat, which is a big departure from the franchise’s turn-based gameplay. As such, big shake-ups in the game’s class system may not be too far-fetched.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.