Dragon Age The Veilguard’s playtesters were at the origin perplexed about nearly every element of the game’s fight: “It is OK, infrequently we now have to let it dawdle”
During a panel at
“I wanted to focus a bit more on what we refer to as primers and detonators in Veilguard,” Porrio said, referring to the game’s combo system that allows “one ability to create opportunities for another to then ‘detonate.'” In the current version of Veilguard, this looks like triggering a specific effect with one class, such as using a Rogue to apply Sundered, enabling another character class to unleash it in a powerful AoE attack – in this case, a Mage.
Strategically orchestrating combos in this manner necessitates familiarity with both your character’s and companions’ abilities, “which can be overwhelming,” Porrio clarified.
With this in mind, the Veilguard’s UX team designed the game interface, and Porrio noted their belief that, “‘okay, if we don’t draw attention too much, players won’t feel overwhelmed.'” They populated information regarding elements like creature weaknesses, equipped items, and available companions around the tops and sides of players’ screens… until it became evident that players “tend to overlook the items on the top right and top left.”
“There was so much confusion surrounding detonations,” Porrio recalled. “Players were really not using the detonations effectively due to this confusion.”
As the Veilguard team continued to refine their UX design, they considered that adding visual effects to highlight important abilities could help clarify combat mechanics. However, Porrio mentioned that there remained “a lot of effort needed to capture the player’s attention.”
Weekly newsletters, stories from the communities you love, and more
“It was still confusing,” he continued.