We have reached the end Game informants Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Cover story as we prepare to release another electrifying issue. But I have one last article to publish, and it’s about Bellara Lutary, a Dalish elf and member of the game’s novel Veil Jumpers faction. During my visit to BioWare’s Edmonton, Canada, office earlier this year, I checked out the game’s extensive character creator, the in-media prologue, and the first mission after said prologue.
While BioWare has released an extensive look at the Veilguard prologue via 20-minute gameplay trailer last month, they didn’t reveal much about this next mission, where you meet and recruit your first companion, Bellara. I learned a lot about this character, and knowing that I was one of the first people outside the studio to see the mission where you meet her, I spent a good portion of my interviews with team leaders talking about Bellara. So in my latest Dragon Age: The Veilguard article, here’s everything I learned about this weird elven mage.
Everything We Learned About Bellar Lutar in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
In speaking with various BioWare leaders, such as game director Corinne Bushce, artistic director John Epler (who is personally responsible for writing and guiding Bellary’s development), and BioWare CEO Gary McKay, it’s clear that the team deeply loves this character. She’s energetic, energetic, and academic, and as a companion in combat, she’s someone I’d love to have on my team.
“I love Bellara, I think she’s fantastic,” McKay tells me. “I see people I know in her, so that’s why she really speaks to me. I love the whole DIY aspect of her. It was a collective that brought that character to life. Everything from the writers to the editors to the animators to the character modelers to the texturing to the way we light her. I’m really proud of that character.”
Bellara in the fight
When I ask Busche about Bellara, she gives me some insight into what I can expect from a mage on the battlefield. And Bellara sounds like a great choice for both support and elemental combos.
“Oh my god, she’s amazing,” Busche says. “First of all, she’s a mage. She’s an explorer of ancient elven ruins. She’s an elf herself, and she’s part of the Veil Jumpers faction. They’re exploring the ancient ruins of Arlathan. Everything about her mage character is an example of that, but she also challenges the archetypal idea of a mage.”
She does this by attacking from a distance with her bow, using electrically charged arrows. But she also casts spells that tardy time or heal allies and Rook. She does this by channeling magical energy into her glove. Busche says she starts out as a support character in combat, thanks to her healing spells, but notes that players don’t have to build her that way. She’s also leaned toward electrical damage, and “the damage type really matters a lot when we get into strategy and tactics,” Busche says.
Bellary’s Place in the World
Epler, who writes Bellara, talks to me about her place in Thedas as an elf and the elves’ connection to the magic in the world. He says that if you’ve been paying attention to the franchise, you probably already know that elves are a historically oppressed people in the games. Now that two of their gods are free in Veilguard, magic has poured back into the world in a large way.
“She represents the Veil Jumpers,” Epler explains. “Now the Veil Jumpers are a faction that has appeared in the comics before, but this is also the first time they’ve appeared in the games, and they’re the ones traveling through Arlathan, where there was an historic elven empire that left behind a lot of artifacts when it disappeared. When the elves lost their immortality thousands of years ago, they still left behind a lot of their artifacts and a lot of their, for lack of a better word, magical technology, and Bellara represents that longing to discover the truth of who the elves were, because they not only lost their magic and their immortality, but they also lost a lot of their history.
“A lot of what they know about their past is based on myth, on rumor. Bellara is a seeker of knowledge. She wants to find out what’s true and what’s not; she wants to find the pieces of who the elves used to be and really understand what their history was, where they came from, and also where they’re going and find a future for the elves. And in the context of Veilguard, she joins the team, first of all to help stop the gods, because Bellara feels at least partly responsible, because they’re elven gods, but also to maybe find a little bit more of who they used to be. Because, again, you’re dealing with these elves who existed thousands of years ago and have now come back into the world, and who better to tell her who the elves used to be than them.”
Short Detour: Magic
In one of my recent questions for Epler, I was curious about the contrast between Bellara, an elven mage who is hopeful and full of life, and Solas, a determined and tragic figure. He suggested that Bellara may be more than meets the eye.
“Solas sees himself as a tragic hero,” Epler says. “He can’t be truly happy, he can’t afford to be happy, partly because he carries around guilt for what he did, for bringing in the Veil, for what he did to the world. Whereas Bellara is someone who’s seen tragedy, and as you get into her character arc and her story, you realize that this is a character who’s seen a lot of tragedy. But that tragedy, instead of being wallowed in, she’s forced herself to overcome it. She looks at her regrets and says, ‘I don’t want to feel regret.’”
Today we learned that Bellara will be voiced by Jee Young Han, known for her roles in Perry Mason, Not trapped, and as Sentinel Dax in BioWare’s previous game, Anthem. To see the rest of the cast, along with Rook’s four voice options, click here.
To learn more about the game, including exclusive details, interviews, videos, and more, click the Dragon Age: The Veilguard button below.
