It's officially the summer of Dragon Age: The Veilguard reveals, and many fans are no doubt looking forward to what comes next. It remains to be seen what BioWare and EA intend to show, but more gameplay, a release date, a deeper look at character creation, and perhaps showcases of each companion are certainly on the table. That said, BioWare has been incredibly forthcoming with Dragon Age: The Veilguard already, ranging from the original 20 minutes of gameplay, showcases at Summer Game Fest, a Game Informer cover story, a Discord Q&A, and more.

NOTE: Spoilers for the first hour of Dragon Age: The Veilguard Ahead

Across all of this, Dragon Age: The Veilguard has revealed the specializations available for each class. Warriors will be able to choose between Slayer, Reaper, and Champion specializations, Rogues will be able to pick between Duelist, Saboteur, and Veil Jumper specializations, and Mages will be able to choose between Evoker, Death Caller, and Spellblade. Regarding the latter, some fans were upset that Blood Magic wasn't possible for Dragon Age: Veilguard's Rook, but across all of these reveals, it seems BioWare may have subtly revealed why.

Rook Has a 'Good' Reason for Not Using Blood Magic

During the aforementioned Discord Q&A, game director Corinne Busche loosely described Dragon Age: The Veilguard's Mage Specializations (they were later confirmed) and also addressed the lack of Blood Magic for Rook. The developer explained that Rook has good reasons to avoid Blood Magic but stopped shortly from revealing what those reasons were. At first, it seemed likely it would be something tied to Rook's possible backgrounds, perhaps explained in different ways in each one, but it might actually be much simpler than that. Game Informer's cover story on Dragon Age: The Veilguard dove deep into the first hour, and therein lies a connection between Rock and Blood Magic.

Dragon Age 's use of Blood Magic has been inconsistent , to say the least. It is among the worst things a Mage can do, but Dragon Age 2' s Hawke can be a good Blood Mage flaunting their Blood Magic everywhere. As such, skipping it altogether is probably a good idea - even without a narrative hook.

Game Informer's cover story goes a little further into the prologue than the SGF previews or the gameplay reveal, describing what happens to Rook after taking out the scaffolding. It seems that Solas has become trapped in the Fade and somehow bound to Rook, with Solas also revealing that some of Rook's blood mixed with the ritual—tying Rook to the Fade. The ramifications of that, especially with Blighted Elven Gods (The Evanuris) on the loose and Solas' likely still wanting to tear down the Veil, remain to be seen, but there's likely a connection between this mishap and Rook's avoidance of Blood Magic.

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Well, Technically, Rook Uses Blood Magic in the Prologue

This is Blood Magic, after all. Solas attempted a powerful ritual, using an astronomical amount of power and magic, and Rook's blood got involved in it. As such, Rook's blood and power is tied to the Fade in Dragon Age: Veilguard, and it's likely their life is somehow connected to it as well. Using any further Blood Magic would no doubt be a bad thing, hence being a "good reason" for Rook to avoid it. It could be simpler or more complex than that, but it's likely that this is why Rook doesn't use Blood Magic.

In the past, Blood Magic has led Mages or Templars to become Abominations, but it seems in this exact context, Rook has somehow become tied directly to the Fade as well as Solas. It's uncertain how deep the connection goes. It'll be interesting to see if Solas and Rook essentially become Anders and Justice/Vengeance or Wynne and the Spirit of Faith. Solas is not a Spirit, true enough, but it's also not certain what happened to Solas when the Evanuris approached him in the prologue. Either way, Rook should probably avoid Blood Magic so this scenario doesn't become worse; as is, Rook has the Dread Wolf in their ear.