The Night King

Overview

The Evoker Mage is one of the most devastating builds in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, designed around unleashing colossal battlefield control and raw damage through entropic magic. If you’ve ever wanted to launch a planet-sized frozen storm that swallows everything in sight, this build is for you. By combining Entropic Sphere, Frost Nova, and Dark Squall with some of the strongest passives and equipment in the game, the Evoker becomes a walking natural disaster capable of wiping out entire groups in seconds.

The backbone of the build is the infamous Maw of the Black City + Garb of Kinship synergy, which completely negates Maw’s drawback while amplifying your damage and survivability to absurd levels. While that combo is broken on any mage, the Evoker is particularly suited to it because of how well its abilities scale with area and critical damage. Even bosses are trivialized once your sphere is rolling across the battlefield.

This is a build that rewards both patient setup and explosive payoff — freezing enemies in place, dropping a massive storm, and cleaning up with staff attacks. It’s simple to execute, incredibly flashy, and one of the most complete mage playstyles in the game.

Early Game

Pick Shadow Dragons for smoother mana or Mourn Watch for affliction perks; faction is flavor, so don’t sweat it. The opening kit is tuned to keep you safe and casting: Frost Nova (no-mana freeze, your lifeline), Corrupted Ground (steady AoE that ticks while targets are rooted), Ice Blast (single-target punch). Grab Greater Authority early so Ice Blast swaps to a cooldown—now Nova, Ice Blast, and Ground form a rotation that doesn’t drain you. Bolt Volley is a simple staff DPS bump via extra projectile; learn to weave two or three light attacks, then finish chains cleanly while enemies are frozen in place or stuck inside your ground DoT. You’ll rely on the staff a lot before specialization, so always Nova first, place Ground where they’re clustered, then Ice Blast the priority target; keep firing between cooldowns to farm final-hit projectiles and free damage.

Early Levels

Level	Spell/Passive
1	Mind Blast
2	Charging Spirit
3	Frost Nova
4	Bulwark
5	Death Frost
6	Death Blessing
7	Imbued Duration
8	Enervation
9	Corrupted Ground
10	Fade Reflex
11	Providence
12	Clarity in Suffering
13	Ice Storm
14	Ice Blast
15	Improved Health
16	Absorb
17	Greater Authority
18	Frostbite
19	Frost Shield
20	Shellbreaker
21	Imbued Takedown
22	Underestimated
23	Dark Squall
24	Early Frost
25	Bolt Volley
26	Vortex of Shadow
27	Entropic Sphere
28	Ice Storm
29	Two Fires
30	Heavy Weaponry

Equipment

Item	Details
Primary Weapon Winterbreath Location	Provides +15% bonus damage and additional status effects
Secondary Weapon Enchanted Athame Location	More then doubles your damage at the cost of additional mana
Staff Veilseeker/Glacial Rod Location	Additional fire damage and mana resource
Helmet Defiant Silence Location	Provides +30% damage from having all blast abilities and refunds 25% of mana cost on impact
Armor Garb of Kinship Location	The best armor piece in The Veilguard, provides longer advantage duration, +10% damage for EVERY advantage (you will typically always have 3+), makes the advantages more effective and most importantly heals you for +5% when gaining an advantage which will offset the self damage of Maw of the Black City
Ring 1 Maw of the Black City Location	Makes your abilities a guaranteed critical hit at the cost of our health, this issue is completely negated by Garb of Kinship & Twin Buckle Binding
Ring 2 Band of Smoke Location	Extra Fire Damage
Amulet Hallas Grace Location	Significant boosts to our blast ability damage and returns our mana when critical hitting with blast abilities, working in perfect combination with Maw of the Black City
Belt Twin Buckle Binding Location	Extra healing and ability damage
Rune 1 Vivify Location	Ability cooldowns are refreshed and the next ability is free
Rune 2 Escalate Location	Passive +10% Ability damage
Rune 3 Glaciate Location	Passive +10% Fire damage

Equipment Overview

The Evoker’s kit is built around amplifying spell spam while leveraging cold damage. Defiant Silence is the natural helmet choice here for its heavy crit scaling, making every Entropic Sphere cast land like a bomb. Garb of Kinship pairs with Maw of the Black City once again, creating sustain from crits while multiplying damage output during advantages. The amulet slot favors Hal’s Grace, reducing cooldowns on Frost Nova and Dark Squall so they’re always ready to pin down enemies for your giant storm to follow. For rings, Maw of the Black City unlocks constant crits, while Band of Smoke specifically pushes Ice Blast to the damage cap. Twin Buckle Binding remains the belt of choice, its healing and damage boost fitting seamlessly into the spam-heavy loop.

Weapons lean toward both flexibility and cold amplification. Winter Breath is the core choice, shredding chilled enemies while further reducing cold resistance, making Frost Nova and Entropic Sphere more devastating. Enchanted Aame slots in for a raw damage boost that this build can afford thanks to its cooldown-based rotation, while Glacial Rod allows for heavy attack synergy when you prefer a more aggressive frontline style. Swapping to Veil Seeker is a valid alternative if you’d rather lean on light attack barrages. No matter the staff, the weapon set ensures your cold-based nukes never run out of steam.

How to Play Late Game

The loop is straightforward and brutal. Frost Nova first to lock the field; Entropic Sphere through the largest lane so it clips frontliners and finishes in the backline; Dark Squall on stragglers or to peel charging elites; staff-weave to finish anything still standing. With Hal’s Grace and Kinship advantages rolling, Nova and Squall are up constantly, so you’re repeatedly freezing the map and feeding Sphere perfect targets. If mana falters or you mistime a cast, pop Vivify, drop another Sphere immediately, then re-establish Nova.

Positioning matters: aim Sphere so it travels through the pack rather than detonating early—walls or tight corners will pre-explode it and waste damage. On open maps, cast slightly off-center so it sweeps multiple lanes instead of tunneling one. Against bosses or anchored heavies, Nova to force openings, Sphere to tick crits, Squall to re-stagger, then step in with Glacial Rod heavies between cooldowns; the heavy-followups feel great because the target is permanently controlled. For safer ranged maps or anti-necrotic matchups, swap to Veil Seeker and machine-gun light chains while the Sphere rolls.

The build shines because all pieces feed each other: Nova’s free freeze gives Sphere perfect contact time, Sphere’s constant crits keep Kinship healing through Maul’s chip, Hal’s Grace shaves cooldowns so the CC blanket never drops, and your staff pattern fills every gap with crit-amped projectiles. Keep the cadence tight—Nova → Sphere → Squall → staff chain, repeat—and you’ll watch Nightmare packs vanish under a blizzard that covers the whole screen.

Final Levels

Level	Spell/Passive
31	Controlled Infusion
32	Necessary Steps
33	Breathing Room
34	Collateral Damage
35	Even the Odds
36	Necessary Steps
37	Breathing Room
38	Zone of Destruction
39	Ethereal
40	Knight of Staves
41	Cryomancy
42	Bonechiller
43	Desolate Malady
44	Salt in the wound
45	Multiplicity
46	Keen Insight
47	Quick Recovery
48	Chain Lightning
49	Concentration
50	Energy Burst
51	Bulwark
52	Medium Armor Mastery
53	Detioration
54	Fade Conduit
55	Elemental Catalyst
56	Perfect Cast
57	Killer Instinct
58	Catalyst
59	Wrath
60	Reclamation
61	Enervation
62	Tempest
63	Onslaught
64	Staff Mastery
65	Quickened Strikes

Every ability node is an extra 15% passive damage so we want to grab as many abilities as possible even if we are not using them

Build Snapshot

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