Dragon Age™: The Veilguard achievement guide & roadmap
Welcome to the Dragon Age: Veilguard achievement guide.
Its a big enough RPG, but not too challenging on the achievement front.
Besides ending-specific achievements, a couple are heavily missable; 
NB at launch, another achievement was missable depending on who you choose to help in Chapter 6 - this is no longer the case so you don't need to worry about it.
A lot depends on maxing out faction rep to 3 stars - this can be done by completing faction quests, and selling valuables to the faction's merchants.
Besides that, just do-everything-with-everything-on-everything and make sure to explore everywhere fully for the Mementos, complete all the side quests and max everything out - aiming for the best ending (
The point of no return is at Chapter 11, and the game will tell you this and give you decent warning. Save at this point so that you can complete the game normally, and then revisit for each of the different endings.
Provided you aim for all the other achievements and the best ending throughout your playthrough then everything can be done all in the one run.
NB no specific/individual achievements are known to be glitched, but there are reports of some not unlocking across the board - save in multiple save slots so you can repeat portions if needed. This also can be the case for getting companion side-quests to trigger; if so try talking to them repeatedly, reloading, or travelling elsewhere and coming back to them at the Lighthouse to try again. Or, if you're early in the story, wait it out whilst you progress other things.
Difficulty doesn't affect achievements, but its not clear whether custom difficulty (e.g. disabling death!) affects achievements.
- Has Singleplayer?
- Yes
- Has Multiplayer?
- No
- Difficulty affects achievements?
- No
- Guide contributors
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Knock an enemy off a ledge whilst fighting them. There are plenty of opportunities for this through the game, but the easiest is probably the Hall of Valor arena - which can be unlocked for a side quest by talking to Taash at the Lighthouse. The big hole in the middle of the arena counts as a ledge, so its easy to push people in regardless of your character class.
Or, as a Fighter, the first two chapters have plenty of cliff edges, and a nice hit with your alternate/heavy weapon will easily send someone flying off the edge for an easy unlock.
Changed the look of an item for the first time.
Changed the look of an item for the first time.
This is easy to unlock at any point from when you gain your own room in the Lighthouse a couple of quests into the game; in the Wardrobe in your room in the Lighthouse you can change equipment appearance. You'll be given new/alternate cosmetics at various points in the game and you only have to do this once to unlock it.
Performed five takedowns.
Performed five takedowns.
To do a takedown, first the enemy has to be staggered - so you'll want enemies that aren't so weak they just die. Once staggered, hit RS/R3 to take them down. Rinse & repeat, easy enough.
You can't stagger enemies right at the beginning of the game, but the mechanic is introduced to you within the first few quests.
Socketed a rune for the first time.
Socketed a rune for the first time.
You'll be given Runes as you progress through the game, and when you do it'll show a tutorial explaining what to do - do it and apply a rune to your gear and the achievement will unlock.
Upgraded a faction merchant for the first time.
Upgraded a faction merchant for the first time.
There are merchants at the faction HQ in all major towns, and you can pay - in faction reputation and other resources (e.g. gold) - to upgrade their shops to higher ranks. The first upgrade costs 500 faction rep, 500 gold plus other (faction-dependent) resources.
You can gain faction rep by doing quests in the area or selling valuable items to the merchant.
You should get this on the way towards
There are six related memories, each with a separate achievement, and all unlocked automatically through natural completion of the side quest "Regrets of the Dread Wolf", which will become available automatically during Chapter 6.
Be mindful of
See 
See
See
See
Few people are worthy of an invitation, you know.
Few people are worthy of an invitation, you know.
Complete (very short) the side quest "The Black Emporium", from the Caretaker in the Lighthouse.
See
Spent at least 52 points in Rook's skill trees.
Spent at least 52 points in Rook's skill trees.
You get a skill point for each altar as you progress 
As you progress the game and all the side and companion quests you should easily end up with 52 or more for this.
Complete the side quests "Restless Spirits" and "Pinnacle of its Kind". The first can be opened by talking with Emmrich in the Lighthouse, from Chapter 7 onwards. Pinnacle of its Kind can be opened by interacting with the door in the Chamber of the Unforged, which gets unlocked as you complete the previous quest.
Reach a 3 star rating with the Veil Jumpers faction in Arlathan Forest.
You should get this on the way to 
Complete all five of Harding's companion quests - Harding will be recruited to your party automatically as you progress the story.
Complete all 6 of Emmrich's companion quests. Emmrich will join your party automatically as you progress the story.
Visited every district possible throughout Northern Thedas.
Visited every district possible throughout Northern Thedas.
Visit every named location across all 8 main regions of the game. Locked areas that are specific to side quests don't count and aren't necessary for this.
The easiest way to keep track is on your in-game map; explore everywhere to remove the grey/fog and once its clear (or nearly clear) you'll be done.
As you're working through all the main, side, companion and faction quests you'll end up getting this automatically - every location gets touched at least once in some way for at least one of those quests. I.e. no special effort required here.
In the side quest Regrets of the Dread Wolf you must achieve peaceful completion of the quest without having to fight Mythal at the end. This is also a pre-requisit for getting Mythal's Essence which you'll need later for 
Complete all 6 of Davrin's companion quests. Davrin will, like all the companions, be recruited automatically to your team as you progress the story.
Complete all 6 of Taash's companion quests, which will also help you with getting 
Get a 3 star rating with the Lords of Fortune faction, in the Hall of Valor and Rivain Cost regions.
Complete 2 side quests for the Grey Wardens. Both are started by reading letters in the Lighthouse, which become available as you progress the story.
NB some reports of these quests not becoming reliably available, if you get concerned raise your rank to a 3 star rating with the Grey Wardens and that should trigger it.
Defeated all high dragons across northern Thedas.
Defeated all high dragons across northern Thedas.
These aren't hard to find - as they're attached to quests and Taasha (who will be automatically recruited to your team as you progress the story).
Note there are some other dragons in the game, but only these four are required for the achievement.
Complete all four of the companion quests for Bellara. Bellara will join your party automatically during the story.
Complete all six of Neve's companion quests - Neve is recruited to your party automatically as you progress the story.
Complete all six of Lucanis' companion quests - Lucanis is recruited to your party automatically during the story.
Complete 2 side quests for the Antivan Crows faction - these can be found by reading letters around the Lighthouse. The first will be available after Lucanis joins your team (which happens as you progress the story).
Some reports this is glitchy - if it doesn't unlock then either reload a save, or grind the faction to max rep and it'll unlock then.
This can be done in the Lighthouse from Chapter 8 onwards. Earlier than this you can do the statues but nothing else will happen (no Wisps).
Solve the statues puzzle outside (3 sets of 2 statues where each pair must be rotated to face each other), then guide two Wisps into the music room that opens indoors afterwards. A portal will appear - go through it.
Interact with the thing on the other side for a little reward, and then jump off the balcony. That's it.
Complete all 6 side quests for the Mourn Watch faction.
Awarded for the best possible ending where all faction leaders and all companions survive. This is mutually exclusive vs the other ending-specific achievements such as
As with all of them, save before the point-of-no-return at Chapter 11. For this ending all companions must be upgraded to be "Heroes of the Vanguard", and you must have completed all regional quests to to get 3 stars with all the factions.
In the final missions, make sure to assign companions sensibly to roles that match their strengths so that they don't end up dying in those missions. Keep lots of saves so you can re-do if things go wrong.
You'll need to choose somebody to take down the wards - whoever you choose will appear as dead for a while but (provided they are a Hero of the Vanguard) they can be rescued later before the end and are not, in fact, dead.
Complete all the side quests for the Shadow Dragons in Dock Town.
Fully upgraded a weapon, armor, and accessory to their highest level and rarity.
Fully upgraded a weapon, armor, and accessory to their highest level and rarity.
Missable because to fully upgrade you need a lot of Mementos, and many of them are in quest-specific areas that cannot be revisited after completing the quests.
How many you need depends on which ones you collect; each gives 50-200 Caretaker Power, and you need 12,000 total Caretaker Power to fully upgrade your equipment to level +10. Around 140-1145 Mementos, of the 182 total in the game, should generally be enough.
You generally won't need a guide for the mementos as they're easy to spot and the levels are small. Just be sure to search everywhere thoroughly as you play.
You'll unlock 
There are missable Mementos in locked quest areas in the following places:
- Chapter 4, story quest "Sea of Blood" in The Ossuary
- Chapter 8, story quest "The Siege of Weisshaupt" in Weisshaupt
- In the Taash quests, in The Hall of Valor
- In the Emmrich quests, in the House of the Dead
- In the Harding quests, in Kal-Sharok Outpost
For reaching the secret ending, where the achievement will unlock after the credits.
To get the secret ending you must have completed "Regrets of the Dread Wolf" peacefully (see
You also need to collect three Mysterious Circles:
One is on a tiny island in Arlathan Forest, solve a laser/crystal puzzle to get to the island.
Another is in Necropolis Halls after 
The last is in Crossroads, complete the quest "Heart of Corruption" to get access and the circle will be on the left where you climb up in the room where you fight the dragon.
Then, go ahead and complete (or re-complete) the game for the secret ending and cutscenes.
You must visit and activate all 29 altar locations; each of which is a statue of a Dread Wolf - and grants you either a skill point (Fen'Harel Altars) or +100 max health (Evanuris Altars) for each you interact with (helpful for 
You'll hear a howl when you get close to one. Interact with it to rotate it, and trigger a short action to complete; either shooting down flying puzzle pieces or finding blue mini wolf statues (depending on the altar type).
Keep an eye out and tick these off as you progress the game, albeit some are not accessible until pretty much the end of the story (and require completion of most side quests) so it'll be a late-game unlock.
See the linked Altar Locations guides from Gamespot below, which has descriptions and screenshots for each - and the checklist which has the altars in the same order as the linked guide.
This is a late-game optional achievement, wholly in Hossberg Wetlands.
You have to make three flowers grow - this can be done by completing "The Cabin in the Blight" and then "Something's Coming". Both can be started by reading letters in the Lighthouse.
After the quests, you can go back and collect the flowers - one is where you finished "Something's Coming", another is in the Eastern part of Hossberg Wetlands where there are lots of blue flowers, and the third is in the Southeast - also near loads of blue flowers.
Once you've got them, return to the battlefield in the South where you battled the dragon and talk to the blue ghost.
