Dragon Age: Dreadwolf continues the story of Inquisition, with players tracking down the titular elven sorcerer. However, after multiple changes in leadership and vision, it’s not surprising that the next Dragon Age will be pretty different from its predecessor. This reportedly includes a shift to action combat rather than the hybrid real-time-with-pause system from the previous game.

Other rumors indicate a significant shift in how Dragon Age: Dreadwolf approaches classes. Some believe that Dreadwolf may move away from the standard Warrior, Mage, and Rogue archetypes in favor of a faction-based class system. Others think that BioWare might do away with classes altogether, and while neither of these is confirmed, either would be a big mistake.

Dreadwolf Shouldn’t Abandon Warrior, Mage, and Rogue

Back in February, someone leaked video and screenshots showing Dreadwolf’s gameplay. This included a shot of the character screen, which describes the character as a “Level [blank] Grey Warden.” While Grey Warden may be simply the character’s backstory, many believe it’s the name of their class. This led to speculation that Dreadwolf’s classes are faction-based.

Dragon Age's Classes and Origins

One specific fan theory goes that all Warriors will be Grey Wardens, all Rogues Antivan Crows, and all Mages Tevinters. However, this feels like a pretty massive step backward. Dragon Age: Origins features six backgrounds based on their race and class. Inquisition technically has six, though they were criticized for being too limited due to forcing dwarf players to be Carta members and lacking a city elf option. Dreadwolf only having three character backstories tied to class would strike many fans as unnecessary railroading.

It also doesn’t make much sense with the lore. The entire point of Dragon Age’s Grey Wardens is people from all walks of life dedicating themselves to fighting the Darkspawn. They have never been exclusively Warriors, with Rogue and Mage Wardens appearing in all three games.

Doing away with classes entirely would also be a mistake, but that may be where the game is heading. Those who have seen the game compared its combat to the God of War reboot. If this is accurate, it’s unclear if Dragon Age’s rigidly defined classes would even work with Dreadwolf’s more hack-and-slash gameplay. BioWare might have decided it doesn't, doing away with strict classes altogether.

Dreadwolf's Skill Tree Concept

That’s also one interpretation of the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf skill tree prototype that BioWare shared in February. The tree consists of six color-coded branches around a central ring. The ring has a handful of skills and connects to the blue, yellow, and red branches. Each of these branches connects to two of the other three, which don’t connect to the central ring. These three mixed branches then lead off to two additional sub-branches. The three initial branches may correspond to the basic Warrior Mage and Rogue abilities, with the later branches representing combinations.

That is an interesting way to lay out an action RPG skill tree but not a good choice for a Dragon Age game, as it would mean sacrificing a crucial part of the series’ identity. In past games, Warriors, Mages, and Rogues each played a different role in gameplay. Meanwhile, cross-class ability combos encourage players to experiment with different builds to see which effects work well together. This also emphasized that the player controlled a team, not just the main character.

However, Dreadwolf doing away with classes would bring it in line with mainstream action RPGs, which usually forgo parties in favor of an all-powerful protagonist. This seems to be happening, with the new game reportedly removing the player’s ability to control their companions. It’s hard to feel like a team when everyone does their own thing, especially if one character can potentially fill every role.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is in development.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the long-awaited fourth game in the fantasy RPG series from BioWare, and formerly known as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. A direct sequel to Inquisition, it focuses on red lyrium and Solas, the aforementioned Dread Wolf.

Franchise

Dragon Age

Platform(s)

PS5 , Xbox Series S , Xbox Series X , Microsoft Windows

Developer(s)

BioWare

Publisher(s)

Electronic Arts

Genre(s)

RPG