Factions play a major role in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but Rook will need to gain reputation with them to increase their strength and get the most out of these tenuous alliances. There are six factions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and players get to choose which one their Rook belongs to. These are Grey Wardens, Veil Jumpers, Shadow Dragons, Antivan Crows, Mourn Watch, and Lords of Fortune. Each faction hails from a different region in northern Thedas that Rook can explore. Here, they will complete the majority of side quests and companion quests.

Each faction in Dragon Age: The Veilguard has a base in their region where players will land upon fast traveling. These often contain an Eluvian and a fast travel point for easy access from the Crossroads or the World Map, a few notable NPC quest givers, and a Faction Merchant with whom Rook can trade. Unlike other Merchants who appear in each region, players can level up Faction Merchants in Dragon Age: The Veilguard to gain access to better items over time.

Where To Find Faction Merchants

Visit Faction Bases Across Thedas

Faction Merchants in Dragon Age: The Veilguard generally appear at the faction base in each exploration level. They will only unlock after Rook has recruited a companion from that faction and spoken to them in the Lighthouse to pick up their first location-based quest. For example, after recruiting Bellara and unlocking Arlathan Forest, entering Arlathan Forest via the Eluvian in the crossroads or the World Map will bring Rook and the party to the Veil Jumper camp. Here, they will find the Veil Jumper Faction Merchant. The same is true for the Grand Necropolis in Nevarra for the Mourn Watch, Treviso for the Antivan Crows, etc.

Faction Merchants sell a variety of items, including armor and weapon appearances based on the faction's style, gear for companions and for Rook, Mementos to increase the Caretaker's power, decorations for Rook's room based on the faction, and even sometimes companion gifts. At first, Faction Merchants only have a small selection, but as Rook upgrades these Merchants, they will improve their selection with more powerful items and better prices.

How to Upgrade Faction Merchants

Increase Faction Strength

As Rook establishes an alliance with each of the factions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, they will receive a Faction Strength score. Faction Strength begins as weak by default, but there are three ways to increase it:

• Complete Main Quests: Progressing the main story rewards a sizable amount of Faction Strength.
• Complete Secondary Quests: Completing side missions and companion quests in faction-controlled areas further rewards Faction Strength.
• Sell Valuable Items to Faction Merchants: Exploring, breaking crates and vases around the world, and looting chests often rewards Valuable Items, which can be sold to Faction Merchants for a small boost to Faction Strength per item.

The stronger the faction, the more help they will give Rook later in the game.

Rook will build a reputation slightly faster with the faction chosen at the start of Dragon Age: The Veilguard in character creation, making it somewhat easier to improve that faction's Strength more quickly.

Increased Faction Strength is required to upgrade Faction Merchants. Additionally, upgrades will cost some Resources Rook can gather while exploring, like Heartwood, Flawless Crystal, Ore, Imperial Weave, and so on. Once the Faction Merchant has been upgraded, they will begin selling stronger, more powerful items. Each Faction Merchant can be upgraded to Level 4.

It is possible to miss unlocking certain Faction Merchants if players are not careful about completing Secondary Quests, causing Rook to lose out on some of these specialty items and another way to build Faction Strength. In my first playthrough of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I progressed the story too quickly after recruiting Lucanis.

Because I never made it to Treviso to unlock the Antivan Crows' faction hub and begin the Secondary Questline for the faction before progressing to On Deadly/Blighted Wings, the first Crows faction quest auto-failed. As a result, I lost access to the Faction Merchant, among other content related to Lucanis and the Crows.

While it is still possible to increase Faction Strength with the Crows, it has become significantly harder as a result. Players should plan to complete as much side content as possible immediately once they unlock new exploration levels before progressing the main story to avoid losing important means of building Faction Strength in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.