You're going to find a lot of armaments in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Gear pieces, such as weapons, armor, and accessories, all confer great bonuses for your characters. But what if we told you that you can further increase their stats and infuse new effects? Here's our guide on how to upgrade and enchant items in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
How to upgrade and enchant items in Dragon Age: The Veilguard - Caretaker Power guide
The method to enchant and upgrade items in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is directly tied to the Caretaker, a mysterious spirit that aids you in the Lighthouse and the Crossroads.
Early in the campaign, you'll notice the Caretaker's Workshop at the Lighthouse's courtyard. This is where you'll be able to upgrade your items using various materials. A bit later, the enchanting system will also be unlocked. This area happens to have a few secrets, too.
We also need to mention that you must obtain mementos that grant Caretaker Power. This resource allows you to increase the rank of the Caretaker's Workshop, subsequently leveling up new gear pieces and unlocking additional enchantments.
Caretaker Power: Mementos from exploration
To increase Caretaker Power in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you need to gather mementos from various locations in the game world. These objects often have a wispy blue-white glow and a chalice icon. Most of these grant +50 Caretaker Power, though some of the more valuable objects can provide as much as +200 Caretaker Power.
Caretaker Power: Mementos from vendors
There are also mementos that can be purchased from vendors. Oftentimes, these items cost 500 gold. However, there are vendors in the Crossroads that sell these in exchange for Etheric Remnants, a resource that primarily comes from green crystals in the Crossroads and other locations.
Should you level up the Caretaker's Workshop early on?
Yes, we definitely recommend leveling up the Caretaker's Workshop as early and as often as possible. In fact, if you have the gold to spare, we suggest buying all the mementos from the NPC vendors that you meet.
The reason for this is because every item you obtain, moving forward, will have its level increased based on the current rank of the Caretaker's Workshop. You can read more about this mechanic in the next section.
Upgrading item levels
Here's an example of how item leveling works in relation to the rank of the Caretaker's Workshop:
- At the start of the game, all gear pieces you collect have no upgrades whatsoever--i.e. +0.
- Let's say you acquire a lot of mementos and you level up the Caretaker's Workshop up to rank 3 in one go.
- Items that are already in your inventory will still be at their base level (+0).
- If you acquire a new/different item, it will automatically be at +3 because of the current rank of the workshop.
- If you obtain a duplicate item (i.e. same as a gear piece that's in your inventory), that equipment will automatically be +3 and its rarity will also be increased.
- The above applies to all non-unique gear pieces that can be upgraded (i.e. weapons, armors, and belts). This happens automatically whether the item comes from a container/chest, quest completion reward, or vendor purchase.
What about items that you acquired before upgrading the Caretaker's Workshop up to a certain rank? Well, they will remain +0 unless you:
- Obtain a duplicate to automatically increase their level and rarity.
- Upgrade them manually via the workshop. This costs materials.
In short, getting more Caretaker Power in Dragon Age: The Veilguard and subsequently leveling up the workshop saves you the trouble of having to farm materials for individual/manual upgrades. If you can get high-level drops from the get-go, you can ensure that your character and companions have powerful equipment as you progress.
How does item rarity work?
There are several rarity tiers. These are color-coded, almost akin to a Diablo or World of Warcraft-esque system:
- Uncommon: White
- Common: Green
- Rare: Blue
- Epic: Purple
- Legendary: Orange
- Unique: Red
Items in your inventory will automatically have their rarity increased whenever you obtain duplicates, at least up to legendary tier. Unique items, as the term implies, don't have duplicates, and are obtained "as is." You can learn more about these gear pieces in our unique items guide.
The item enchanting system
Lastly, you can enchant items in Dragon Age: The Veilguard once the feature is unlocked in the campaign. Simply check out the Caretaker's Workshop and select the function. Here are some tidbits:
- A few enchantments are available once the function has been unlocked. You can find more selections as you increase the workshop's level.
- You can enchant the following gear pieces:
- Rook's weapons, offhand frills, helmet, chestpiece, rings, and amulet. You cannot enchant Rook's belt.
- You may also enchant Rook's abilities/skills.
- For companions, you can enchant their weapons and armors, but not their trinkets and keepsakes.
- Enchanting is completely free and you don't use up any of your materials.
- Each type of enchant, per category/classification, can only be applied to one item at any given time. Since the process is completely free, you can make changes accordingly depending on the equipment that you're using.
- Enchantment types range from health and stat bonuses to increased elemental damage. There are also a few that are class-specific, such as resource generation and ability improvements.
That's everything you need to know about how to upgrade and enchant items in Dragon Age: The Veilguard's Caretaker Power system. Since you're already looking to fine-tune your gear, you might want to learn about the best class and best Warrior skills for your playthrough.
The lands of Thedas are under threat from formidable foes, including some menacing elven gods, and it's up to Rook and their allies to save the day. For more tips and tactics, you can visit our Dragon Age: The Veilguard guides hub.
