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Credit: Electronic Art
Dragon Age: The Veil Guard features a whole host of useful accessibility and interface options to make the arduous quest to kill some pesky elven gods smoother – everything from text size settings to how the game lets you know if an object is interactive. But there are a few little sidekicks you’ll want to adjust right away unless you want to take a tour of Thedas.
I’m talking about the objective tracking and wayfinding features, which at their default settings refuse to let you forget for a second that you have work to do. You get the chance to change this right at the start when you set up the game, but if you’re like me, you probably quickly click through all this stuff without paying much attention to it. take action quickly.
Rook gives a pep talk
So I was dominated by the UI all day, with my mission objective constantly displayed and a little icon holding my hand, telling me exactly where to go – not just the location I needed to go, but every step along the way, every corner and doorway.
Sometimes this can be a lifesaver: the Veilguard’s maps can get a bit labyrinthine at times, and it’s not always clear where to go next. If you want to do a quick side hustle before bed, you might not feel like wandering through a magical forest for hours. But keeping this feature enabled at all times also completely eradicates the fun of exploration, encouraging you to head straight for your goal.
Admittedly, this isn’t BioWare’s most research-intensive RPG. Every distraction is marked on the mini-map and every puzzle is extremely simple, but there is still plenty to discover off the beaten track. However, if you keep all the trackers on, you won’t get the chance to discover anything; you are merely led there. This even applies to the puzzles. If you need to activate some levers or light some braziers across the map to unlock an imposing door, The Veilguard will show you exactly where to go.
How to change objective tracker and signage settings
Menu
There are two settings you need to play with to get some adventure back into your life. The first is in the HUD section of the interface menu. The Objective Tracker’s visibility is initially set to always stay on, meaning the objective of your quest is permanently displayed on the right side of the screen. It doesn’t go away even though you haven’t actually selected a target; it just tells you to choose one.
I like to put it on short pulse so I can briefly bring up my goal when my age-addicted brain forgets what it’s doing. It would have been nice if the minimap had the same set of options, but unfortunately it can only be toggled on or off.
Menu
Next you’ll want to open the gameplay menu and scroll down to the signage settings. Here you can choose a preset or adjust each individual element. So you can change how obvious it is that an object is interactive, how long the target marker remains, and the visibility of the waypoints you drag around the map. I haven’t adjusted the settings for interactive objects, but I have set the marker and waypoints to a short pulse so that if I get really lost I can get a little direction without it completely taking over my adventure.
And with that you are ready to explore northern Thedas on your own.