Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Should You Return the Griffons?

Griffons are powerful creatures mentioned in Dragon Age: Origins that appear in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. They are large, eagle-like beings with the bodies of lions, possessing sharp talons, powerful wings, and keen eagle-like eyesight. The griffons were what Grey Wardens rode into battle during the First Blight, and due to the horrific nature of the war, all griffons supposedly died out and went extinct. The books for the series touch on griffons a bit more and allude to them still being alive, but seeing them is a fun thing for players.

While players go through Dragon Age: The Veilguard, they’ll eventually have to choose whether griffons return as the noble steed for Grey Wardens, or if they remain in their new environment of the Arlathan Forest. There is a sentimental value, as the player gets attached to one of the griffons, and it’s an important part of bonding with one of the best romanceable Veilguard companions, Davrin. The choice should affect the griffon’s future as a species, as the player is deciding what happens to the remaining creatures.

What Happens If You Return The Griffons To The Grey Wardens

Davrin Gains The Defender Skill

If players choose to return the griffons to the Grey Wardens in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Davrin gains the Defender skill. This skill significantly improves his combat effectiveness by reducing the cooldowns of his Assan-related abilities. This specifically helps Death From Above and Assan Strike by 25%. This allows for more frequent use of these powerful abilities, particularly Death From Above, which detonates staggered enemies for area-of-effect damage. Furthermore, the Defender skill grants Davrin Deflect stacks when using Assan abilities, which is a great boost for combat altogether.

In addition to the Defender skill, choosing this option rewards Davrin with the Grey Benefactor legendary armor. This armor changes the nature of Davrin’s detonations by converting the damage type to fire. It also amplifies this fire damage by 25% for each stack of Burning on the target. This effect synergizes exceptionally well with team compositions focused on applying and maintaining Burning, such as those including a Mage Rook and Taash. While this build requires consistent application of Burning, the payoff is worth it, as detonations on heavily afflicted targets can result in a lot of fire damage.

What Happens If You Leave The Griffons In Arlathan Forest

Davrin Gains The Battlemaster Skill

Choosing to let the griffons become sentinels of nature in the Arlathan Forest gives a few benefits for Davrin in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. He gains the Battlemaster skill, which significantly improves how he fights when utilizing Assan, his griffon companion. Specifically, all Assan-related abilities, like Death From Above and Assan Strike, receive a 25% damage boost. Furthermore, using these abilities grants Davrin Precision, improving his overall accuracy and critical hit chance. This will help deal damage a lot more often and get way more criticals.

These rewards are different sides of the same coin; players get equally good results either way.

In addition to the Battlemaster skill, Davrin receives the legendary armor piece, Wildwood Benefactor. This armor provides powerful synergy with Stagger-focused builds. Detonating a staggered enemy with this armor equipped will now inflict Stagger on all surrounding foes, transforming a single-target effect into a potent area-of-effect crowd control tool. Moreover, the amount of Stagger applied by these detonations increases by 10% for every enemy affected, amplifying its disabling potential against groups. This makes Davrin a much better combatant on the battlefield, so players will be glad they finished this quest.

Should You Send The Griffons To The Grey Wardens Or Leave Them In Arlathan Forest?

The Right Decision Depends On Personal Opinion

The biggest concern players need to have when choosing between sending the griffons away or leaving them in the forest in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is their personal opinion. While this is a major decision, it won’t actually affect much. Rook still get rewarded for their trouble, and the griffons will be happy either way no matter what happens to them in Veilguard. It seems like the game does not want to make players feel bad for their choices, so it plays out fairly similarly either way. If it’s preferable to help the Grey Wardens, give them the Griffons; if not, leave them in the forest.

Davrin will be happy with Rook either way and will receive boosts in his skills, which could be a deciding factor, depending on preferred play style. If Rook leaves them with the Grey Wardens, they’ll see the Griffons at Weisshaupt Fortress. If they’re left in the forest, Rook will see them whenever they come to visit. This choice has no significant negative consequences in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, unlike the decision to help Minrathous or Treviso, where those choices matter.