Sure, elven gods threaten the world of Thedas, but that doesn't mean hearts shouldn't be set a-flutter.
Romance is an integral part of BioWare's role-playing games, and the studio's latest fantasy title, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, is no exception. While many things are the same, there's also some changes this time around, with a couple of key factors to keep in mind before you embark on your latest quest across Thedas. Don't worry, I've got you covered. Here's everything you need to know about romance options in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Samuel is a lifelong fan of the Dragon Age series and a lover of well thought-out romance options in video games. Prior highlights of his favorite romances in Thedas include Morrigan, Isabela, Fenris, and Josephine.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard general romance information
As you'd expect, there's some general romantic advice that'll apply across all your companions. The emphasis is on all, as Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the first-ever BioWare game to let you romance every single character in your party, regardless of gender or orientation.
Thanks to some explicit indicators, it's harder than ever for you to misunderstood what dialogue options will and won't help you pursue a romance. The heart icon indicates that you are flirting, which you'll need to do repeatedly in order to garner a companion's interest.
You'll also need to raise your companion's relationship level, which can easily be seen on their equipment screen. For example, when first recruited, Taash's amusingly says "Here."
This title can change over time as your relationship improves, regardless of whether or not you're in a romance with a specific character. In order to increase this relationship value, you'll need to bring your companion along on various quests. You can also massively increase this ranking by doing your companion's specific personal quests, as well as buying them a gift suited to their tastes. Gifts always generate a quest for the companion they're meant for, so it's not possible for anything here to get mixed up.
Eventually, you'll get specific text in the dialogue wheel informing you that a chosen dialogue option will begin to pursue a romance with a companion, but not necessarily lock others out. Continue to flirt and raise the companion's relationship level, and you'll get a dialogue option that will lock you into a romance with that specific character, meaning all others are cut off. Again, as long as you read the description of a dialogue choice, it's impossible to make a mistake here.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Specific companion info
Now I'm moving on to information that's only important for one particular companion. To be clear, given the nature of this information and how it's inconvenient to try talking about how certain choices impact certain characters, there are some MASSIVE SPOILERS ahead.
Seriously, unless you are okay with having parts of the game spoiled in order to ensure your love interest makes it through, come back to this section later. If you don't want to be spoiled, do not keep scrolling!
Last chance.
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Lace Harding romance guide
Harding is mostly a straightforward romance, and you shouldn't have any problems connecting with everyone's favorite dwarven scout as long as you flirt continuously and eventually commit to her.
That changes in the endgame, where you're presented with the choice of having Harding or Davrin lead a second team against the Antaam. Whoever you pick will die, so you need to pick Davrin if you want to have a romantic evening with Harding before the final battle.
Neve Gallus romance guide
There are, unfortunately, multiple ways to miss out on this Tevinter ice mage. At the end of the game's first act, you're presented with the choice of saving Treviso or Minrathous, with whichever city you don't aid suffering terribly from the effects of a Blighted dragon.
If you want to romance Neve, you need to save Minrathous. Otherwise, she'll become Hardened, making her difficult to raise approval for and throwing cold water on any amorous ambitions.
Next up, in the endgame, you'll be faced with a choice of having Neve or Bellara bring down some magical barriers so the team can continue. Whoever you pick is kidnapped, so if you want to have a romantic evening with Neve, you'll need to pick Bellara.
Bellara Lutare romance guide
This perky elven explorer is fairly easy to romance right up until the endgame. At that point, you will have to choose between having her and Neve bring down a magic barrier. Assuming you want to complete the romance before the final battle, you'll need to pick Neve, as whoever you pick is kidnapped.
Lucanis Dellamorte romance guide
The big stumbling block to romancing Lucanis comes at the end of the game's first act, where Rook has to choose between defending Treviso or Minrathous. If you want to romance Lucanis, you have to save Treviso. Otherwise, Lucanis is Hardened and any romantic inclinations are snuffed out.
Davrin romance guide
For most of the game, you won't have any problems romancing this stoic Grey Warden and adopted griffin father.
As with Harding, an issue does raise its head in the endgame. When you are forced to pick between Davrin and Harding to lead a team, you'll want to pick Harding, as whoever is leading this team will die. This way, you'll still have a romantic evening before the final battle.
Emmrich Volkarin romance guide
This necromancer is getting up there in years and is concerned about his legacy beyond death, but he's fortunately quite a straightforward romance, with no major stumbling blocks to hit.
Taash romance guide
As a Qunari monster slayer of multiple cultures, Taash has a lot of internal issues to sort through. They're still easy to romance though, with no major pitfalls that to worry over.
In my review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I wrote that "The story (while intriguing) doesn't always give its earth-shattering reveals time to marinate or focus. At its heart, however, is a cast of characters among BioWare's finest, with bonds that carry this new journey to greatness. "
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is currently available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5.
