The Dragon Age story you need to know before Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age is a series that has been running since 2009, and the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the fourth mainline game. That said, if you're fresh in, there's a lot of information you shouldn't miss.

New players will find that decisions made in previous games don't play too much of a role here, but there are still some recurring characters, locations and storylines you'll need to know to make the most of your time in Thedas.

This is the complete core story of Dragon Age, from the origins to the end of Inquisition.

Read more: Review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age: Origins has one of the most interesting intros of any BioWare RPG, as there are six origin stories to play through depending on race and background. The Dalish elves who live in the forests are very different from the city elves, who are treated as second-class citizens, for example.

The Darkspawn are invading the land of Ferelden and the Gray Wardens are looking for new allies to fight them. This search leads to the Gray Warden Duncan finding the protagonist. Duncan visits the six locations of the origin story and meets the protagonist at one of them. The protagonist is one of the few Guardians who survived the accession, which involved drinking the blood of Darkspawn.

The Battle of Ostagar follows and the Darkspawn wins. The protagonist and his guardian partner Alistair are rescued by Flemeth, an old woman in the swamp, and her daughter Morrigan, who joins the group. It is around this time that Alistair reveals that he is actually in line for the throne of Ferelden.

Meanwhile, political machinations ensue, leading to the king's disappearance and Loghain Mac Tir declaring himself Regent of Ferelden. This means that he is essentially the interim king, despite Ferelden's nobility rebelling against him. This comes to a head at the Landsmeet, where the nobility is called upon to unite to defend themselves against the advance of the darkspawn. If there is a disagreement, your protagonist will fight Loghain and you can then nominate the next King or Queen of Ferelden.

The fun doesn't stop there, as that night Morrigan reveals her own plans to deal with the Darkspawn plague. She plans to father a child that will house the soul of the slain Archdemon – the leader of the Darkspawn – who will then be reincarnated as a demigod.

With the combined forces of Ferelden, the protagonist and the team manage to defeat the archdemon, whereupon Morrigan disappears from the group along with her newborn.

After the Archdemon's fall, the protagonist continues to fight against darkspawn appearances in other parts of the world, as seen in the DLC expansion Awakening. This introduces several important characters, including Anders, but has largely no relevance to the overarching story.

Read more: Every BioWare game ranked from worst to best

Dragon Age 2 is told from Varric's perspective, retelling protagonist Hawke's story as he knows it. It begins with Hawke's family evacuating a Ferelden village under siege by Darkspawn, which happens near the end of Origins. Hawke loses several friends and family members in the process, but is saved by Flemeth, Morrigan's mother. Flemeth helps Hawke and his remaining friends move to Kirkwall for safety.

Hawke works with Varric to make a living and the team gets caught up in an extreme treasure hunt. A Red Lyrium idol they find in the treasure trove corrupts a dwarven ally and Hawke's sister is drafted into the Circle of Mages.

Hawke's primary role is to resolve family issues while maintaining peace in Kirkwall between the Qunari, Templars, mages, and others. Hawke's actions lead to a rebellion that causes the Templars to secede from the Church and mages across Ferelden to rebel against overwhelming restrictions. This begins the war between magicians and templars. At this point, Hawke, the champion of Kirkwall, leaves the city.

Your character in Inquisition, similar to Origins, is no one special. But after a mystical close encounter with a possible deity, your protagonist, the Inquisitor, gains the ability to close and seal Fade Rifts that have sprung up across the world. The divine Justinia, leader of the Church, called peace talks to quell the war between mages and Templars, but an explosion occurred, causing the Fade Rifts and her abilities.

Together with Cassandra and Leliana, the Inquisitor meets with Varric and a new elf named Solas. With Solas' help, the Inquisitor is able to seal Fade Rifts, and people refer to the Inquisitor as the Herald of Andraste.

In Val Royeaux you have the choice to side with either the remnants of the Templars or the Mages. This prompts the darkspawn mage Corypheus to attack Haven, where the Inquisition is based. The Inquisitor's abilities are referred to as “the anchor” and Corypheus reveals that he can use them to freely enter the void. Haven is destroyed, but Solas leads the group to Skyhold, an abandoned castle.

This leads Cassandra, Leliana, and their allies to form the Inquisition around you, naming you leader while tasking you with rescuing Thedas.

The Inquisition continues to investigate the disappearance of the Gray Wardens, only to discover that many of them have either defected or been controlled by Corypheus. Corypheus' power apparently comes from a special orb that the Inquisitor accidentally touched during the peace talks in the Conclave, resulting in the explosion and the anchor. Once you escape Corypheus' clutches, you can either recruit or exile the Gray Wardens.

The Inquisitor's exploits have led to them being invited to a ball at the Winter Palace, which could help resolve the Orlesian civil war. The Empress's advisor, Morrigan, joins the Inquisition and the team heads to the Temple of Mythal to get to an Eluvian before Corypheus. Both Morrigan and the Inquisitor can access the magical powers of the Well of Misery.

This is bittersweet when Morrigan drank from the well, as Mythal turns out to be Flemeth, Morrigan's mother, who still wants to control her daughter, and drinking from the well binds people to her will. With the new abilities, Corypheus storms in and the group has to escape through an Eluvian. However, the abilities show that Corypheus can be killed by taking out his dragon first.

This hastens the final battle that takes place in Skyhold with Corypheus and his dragon. If you take it down and Corypheus steals the magic ball, the game is over – except that Solas regards the broken ball very mysteriously. In a post-credits scene, Flemeth will refer to Solas as “the dire wolf” before Solas seemingly defeats her and gains her abilities.

Dragon Age: Inquisition's DLC “The Trespasser” is incredibly important because it focuses on Solas, who behaved very shady at the end of the main game.

The Inquisition was summoned to the Winter Palace to see what to do after the defeat of Corypheus. A dead Qunari soldier in the Winter Palace raises tensions and it is discovered that the Qunari are planning to invade southern Thedas.

Upon meeting the Qunari, we discover that Corypheus' invasion has led the Qun to believe that the current rulers of Thedas are incompetent – in addition to the theory that the Inquisition serves Fen'Harel. We later discover that Fen'Harel's agent is called Solas.

Later we see Qunari warriors fighting Solas and he petrifies them on the spot. Solas basically explains that he himself is Fen'Harel, the dire wolf, and the creator of the Veil. Solas says that he has his own agents within the Inquisition and then removes the anchor from the Inquisitor by taking the whole arm.

Upon returning to Val Royeaux, you have the choice of handing over the Inquisition to the Church or dissolving the organization. The remnants of the Inquisition later plan to take revenge on Solas by first investigating the Tevinter Empire. And this is where the story ends before Dragon Age: The Veilguard.