How to get the best ending to Dragon Age: The Veilguard—or the worst, if you're curious

With your companions collected and the dragons defeated, there's only one thing left to do: get the best ending for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The good news is that by diligently completing your companion and faction quests you can pretty much breeze through getting very close to the best possible ending to the game. Strong factions and companions are more likely to succeed in the final battle, but there's still no guarantees.

We've seen the very best and the absolute worst endings for The Veilguard, so I'll walk you through how to achieve each. There's still a little wiggle room in between to make your own choices about how you think certain characters' stories should end. So first up, let's break down the best ending for The Veilguard.

The Veilguard best ending

Dragon Age: The Veilguard best ending decisions

The best ending for The Veilguard is one where only one of your companions will die and you'll be able to give Solas a redemption arc—better late than never. Before the quest The Shadowed Sun, make sure you've gotten Mythal's Essence so she can help you reason with Solas. You should also have all factions at maximum strength and all companions become a Hero of the Veilguard by completing their personal quests.

Here are the choices you need to make to get the best ending to The Veilguard:

• Choose Davrin to lead the distraction before the fight against Ghilan'nain
• Choose Bellara to dismantle the magical wards before fighting Ghilan'nain
• Have Emmrich assist the Veil Jumpers in dismantling the wards during the fight with Elgar'nan
• Have Lucanis help the Crows kill the Venatori war leader in the fight with Elgar'nan
• Have Taash help the Wardens kill the golem in the fight with Elgar'nan
• Send Taash to help protect the barricades with The Inquisitor while you climb the tower
• Tell Solas "You don't have to do this" in your final confrontation with him

Should Harding or Davrin lead the distraction?

You should send Davrin to lead the distraction while the rest of the group hunts for Ghilan'nain during the quest The Shadowed Sun. Here's the thing: this is the one guaranteed death in the entire ending. Either Harding or Davrin is going to get ganked by the gods.

There's no true right answer here, but all other things being mostly equal, it makes the most sense for Davrin as a character to make this sacrifice. As a Grey Warden, he was fully prepared to die killing the archdemon at Weisshaupt and was frustrated that he wasn't able to achieve that. He's prepared to do what it takes. As for the endings of their personal stories, Harding has a lot more left to discover about the Titans while Davrin was largely able to settle a future for the griffons that doesn't require him, bittersweet as that is.

Be aware that if you're romancing one of the two of them, this will lock you out of the final romance scene with your partner that's supposed to take place after this battle. So that might factor into your decision more than the larger character arcs.

Should Neve or Bellara dismantle the wards?

You should have Bellara dismantle the wards instead of Neve during the quest The Shadowed Sun. Like the choice between Harding and Davrin, there is no actual more optimal choice here, and this one fortunately won't result in a death as long as they're a Hero of the Veilguard. You will lose access to either Neve or Bellara when they get snatched away by Elgar'nan though.

Again, I recommend picking Bellara for lore and character reasons. You'll save your companion from Elgar'nan's clutches later but the big moment they get to defy him during the final battle feels way more relevant to Bellara as an elf and makes for a more emotional payoff.

This decision will also muck with your ability to see that final romance scene, so take that into consideration. You won't be able to save your companion until after that final night at the lighthouse where you'll get to spend the night with whoever you romanced.

How to assign your companions for the final quest

If you've been following my recommendations for the best ending so far, you should have all factions at full strength and have gotten all your companions to "hero of the Veilguard" status by completing their personal quests. At full strength, you may be able to succeed by placing your companions in less optimal positions, but the choices below I've verified for success.

When planning out your final mission, here's who to assign to each job to guarantee there will be no other character deaths:

• Choose Emmrich assist the Veil Jumpers with the wards
• Choose Lucanis to help the Crows kill the Venatori war leader
• Choose Taash help the Wardens kill the golem

This will leave you with Neve and Harding as your party members to fight through the hordes of enemies on your way to Elgar'nan.

A little later, you'll have another choice of who to send to help the Inquisitor and their forces defend the barricades while you climb to the final fight. You should send Taash with them.

What should you say to Solas?

After your fight with Elgar'nan, it's time for a final confrontation with Solas. You'll get a choice between tricking Solas into binding himself to The Veil or attempting to fight him. If you successfully acquired Mythal's essence earlier in the game, you'll have the third option of asking Mythal to reason with Solas. No matter what, Solas winds up bound to The Veil to preserve it and save the world. It's just a matter of how you get there.

The best ending is to tell Solas "You don't have to do this," which is only available if you collected Mythal's essence. Your second dialogue choice doesn't seem to have any bearing on the ending, so pick as you please. This will summon The Inquisitor, Morrigan, and Mythal to all talk him into doing the right thing. This is definitely the most emotional and satisfying ending you can choose for Solas.

Choosing to trick Solas by saying "Let's try this your way" is also a decent ending, though a little less emotionally impactful. Solas will acknowledge that Rook managed to outplay him through wits alone. Choosing to fight Solas is definitely the worst option among the 'best ending' choices. You won't actually enter a combat encounter and this is a much shorter ending that just leads to tying Solas to The Veil in a rage without any of the emotional send offs from other characters.

Worst ending to The Veilguard

What's the worst possible ending for The Veilguard?

Everyone dies. Seriously, similar to the worst ending for Mass Effect 2, everyone can die, including Rook, though you are still ultimately victorious. There are three things you need to do to ensure this worst outcome:

• Have weak strength for every faction
• Complete basically no companion quest lines so they aren't "Heroes of the Veilguard" though the worst ending is still possible with one or two depending on your choices
• Choose the wrong characters for each assignment during the fight with Elgar'nan and make sure none of the characters you assign are Heroes of the Veilguard

If you want to see this ending guaranteed—and it is a pretty cool ending to be honest—do the following during the ending quest in Minrathous against Elgar'nan:

• Send Taash to aid the Veil Jumpers
• Send Davrin to assassinate the war mage
• Send Lucanis to fight the golem

When climbing the tower:

• Send Emmrich to defend the barricade

Whoever was kidnapped earlier—Bellara or Neve—will sacrifice themselves to the blight to free the Dreadwolf and the last two companions with you will be turned to stone by Solas during the final fight. Rook will sacrifice themselves to imprison Solas in The Veil. Faction death wise, the Viper of the Shadow Dragons will die, as will Strife of the Veil Jumpers.

It's worth noting that, as mentioned earlier, nothing you do during the first ending quest against Ghilan'nain on the island will change anything, apart from who dies while fighting her, and who sacrifices themselves to the blight later if you're on track for the worst ending.