Troubleshooting Dragon Age The Veilguard: Solutions for Frequent Game Crashes

Downloaded Dragon Age: The Veilguard and eager to dive in? If you're finding that, after some initial gameplay or at random stages in the game there are constant crashes and even full PC shutdowns, you’re not alone. Many players face similar issues, with crashes hitting just as they reach critical scenes or character previews.

In this guide, we’ll cover targeted fixes to help get your game running smoothly.

Method 1: Rollback Driver

To roll back to the 560.94 driver on an NVIDIA graphics card to resolve Dragon Age: The Veilguard crashes, follow these steps:

1. Uninstall Current Driver:

• Open Control Panel > Programs and Features.
• Find NVIDIA Graphics Driver in the list, select it, and click Uninstall. Restart your computer once the uninstall is complete.

2. Download the 560.94 Driver:

• Go to the NVIDIA Driver Downloads page.
• Enter your GPU model and select 560.94 as the driver version.
• Download and save the installer.

3. Install the Driver: - Run the downloaded 560.94 driver installer.

• Choose Custom (Advanced) installation, then check Perform a clean installation to ensure no conflicting files remain.
• Follow the prompts to complete the installation, then restart your computer.

4. Verify the Installation:

• Right-click on your desktop and open NVIDIA Control Panel.
• Go to System Information at the bottom, and check that 560.94 is listed as the driver version.

Note: This rollback is a temporary solution. Once the game developers release a patch to fix the crashes, it’s best to update to the latest driver for the best performance and compatibility.

Method 2: Update Drivers

Updating Nvidia/AMD drivers has helped to fix the game crashing issue for many users. To update the driver, follow these steps, 

• Go to the Nvidia website, download, and install GeForce Experience.
• Open GeForce Experience, select “Drivers” and click on the “Check For Updates” button. If any new driver update is available, then download and install the latest version of Nvidia Driver.
• Alternatively, on the Nvidia website, under “Manual Driver Search” enter the requested details of the GPU you need to update the driver for.
• If any latest drivers are available then download the driver installation file to your PC.
• Once the download is complete, open the downloaded file and begin the installation of the driver.
• During installation, under “Installation Options” select “Custom (Advanced)” and click on “Next”.
• Select the “Perform a clean installation” check box under “Custom Installation Options” and select “Next”.
• After the installation is complete, restart your computer and launch the game.

AMD users can visit this website - AMD, enter the requested details, and select “Submit”. In the next screen, based on your OS version download the driver file. Once the download is complete, install the driver and launch the game to see if the error is fixed.

Method 3: Clear Shader Cache and Verify Integrity of Files

Once the drivers are updated, next, clear the Shader cache files. To clear shader cache for "Dragon Age: The Veilguard" in Steam, follow these steps:

1. Launch Steam Client

• Open Steam and go to your Library.
• Find "Dragon Age: The Veilguard" in your game list.

2. Access Game Files

• Right-click on "Dragon Age: The Veilguard"
• Select "Manage"
• Click "Browse Local Files"

3. Clear Shader Cache

• In the game's folder, locate the shader cache folder
• Delete all files inside this folder
• Close the file explorer

4. Verify Game Files Integrity

• Right-click on "Dragon Age: The Veilguard" and select "Properties" in Steam
• In the Properties window, go to the "Local Files" tab
• Click on the "Verify Integrity of Game Files" button. Steam will begin to check the game files for any problems or discrepancies, and repair or re-download any missing or corrupt files as needed.

5. Restart Game

• Launch "Dragon Age: The Veilguard"
• Allow the game to create new shader cache files

After the initial shader cache compilation (which may cause brief stuttering during gameplay), the game should run smoothly since all shader files are automatically recreated- this process often resolves crashes that were related to corrupted shader cache files.

Method 4: Switch to Studio Driver in GeForce Experience

If Dragon Age: The Veilguard is still crashing, another option is to switch from Game Ready drivers to Studio drivers within GeForce Experience. Studio drivers are designed for stability, which can help prevent crashes in some games. Here’s how to switch:

1. Open GeForce Experience:

• Launch the GeForce Experience app. If you don’t have it installed, you can download it from the NVIDIA website.

2. Go to the Drivers Tab:

• In GeForce Experience, click on the Drivers tab at the top.

3. Switch to Studio Driver:

• In the upper-right corner, you’ll see Game Ready Driver selected by default. Click the three dots next to it and select Studio Driver.
• Click Download to install the latest Studio Driver version.

4. Install and Restart:

• After the download is complete, follow the prompts to install the Studio driver. Once installed, restart your PC to apply the changes.

Note: Studio drivers are optimized for stability rather than high performance in gaming. While this may not give peak performance, it’s a solid temporary fix for game stability until a permanent solution or patch is provided by the game developers.

Method 5: Change In-game settings

Adjusting certain in-game settings can help reduce crashes in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, especially if you’re running on a high-performance setup. Try turning off resource-intensive features like ray tracing, shadowing, and strand hair. Here’s how:

1. Open the Game Settings:

• Launch Dragon Age: The Veilguard and go to Settings from the main menu.

2. Turn Off Ray Tracing:

• Go to Graphics -> Ray Tracing.
• Turn settings to off for Ray-traced Reflections, Ray-traced Ambient Occlusion and Ultra Ray Tracing.

3. Disable Shadowing:

• In the same Graphics settings, find Shadow Quality or Shadowing and set it to Off or Low.

4. Disable Strand Hair:

• Go to Graphics > Geometry and find Strand Hair.
• Set Strand Hair to Off.

5. Apply Settings:

• Save your changes and restart the game to ensure the new settings are applied.

These adjustments lighten the graphical load, potentially preventing crashes and providing a smoother gameplay experience. This is a temporary solution, and once the game developers release a patch, you may be able to re-enable these features for the best visual quality.

If you're encountering constant crashes in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, implementing these solutions can provide the stability you need to enjoy the game without interruptions. By following the steps outlined, you can address the most common issues that cause crashes and get back to playing with a smoother experience.