At certain crucial moments in the Dragon Age: The Veil GuardCertain companions can enter a Hardened state that affects their affinities and abilities, potentially for the remainder of the game. The Veil Guard it’s all about relationships with companions; players can complete quests, get closer to, and potentially romance their Dragon Age party members. However, it’s not all sweet words and acts of service. It’s just as easy to make the wrong decision at a crucial moment, upsetting a companion and interrupting a budding romance.
Returning from Dragon Age: InquisitionThe Hardened status effect changes a character’s role, behavior, and relationship with Rook, but it’s not all bad either. There are certain benefits to the status effect which, although not absolutely necessary to win The Veil Guardcan be very useful. Either way, at least some degree of Hardening is inevitable regardless of the player’s choices, so it’s important to understand what the condition is and how it occurs. Also remember that hardening can always be reversed.
What Hardened Status Does
DA: Veilguard Hardened Status, Explained
Becoming Hardened affects a character’s combat statistics and personality. In the first place, a Hardened character loses access to certain support skills in their skill tree. Even if they already have some support skills equipped, they are likely to disappear from the hotbar. In your skill tree, these locked skills will be marked with a red X. This will also block any section of the skill tree that passes through disabled support skills – these usually just strengthen the associated skill, but players should keep this in mind if they are developing a special skill.
But becoming Hardened is not strictly negative. On the contrary, a hardened character’s damage abilities are strengthenedgenerally receiving simple strength buffs that increase the amount of damage they deal. It won’t unlock new abilities, but the ones the Hardened character has will be significantly stronger. As a result, the player may actually want to harden a character whose offensive abilities he often relies on – not exactly the kindest decision, but it’s a practical one.
Hardened characters also have unique dialogueand may look different in dialogue scenes. This varies from person to person, but, for example, a once-cheerful ray of sunshine may begin to seem cold and distant, or a quick-witted character may stop telling jokes.
Finally, Rook’s relationship progress with the Hardened characters moves much more slowly. They gain affinity at a slower rate, and important dialogue scenes or personal quests may take longer to appear. It will take longer to upgrade your skills and unlock new abilities. This isn’t exactly a death sentence for their romance, but it will make things significantly more difficult. If Rook wants to end the Hardened character in the end, he’ll need to choose his words carefully, ensuring he’s making the most of every opportunity to leave a good impression.
Which characters can become hardened
And what choices harden them
Only two companions can become Hardened in Dragon Age: The Veil Guard – Neve and Lucanis. There is a single, crucial decision that causes one of them to become Hardened, and since Rook only has two possible options, one of them will inevitably become Hardened with each playthrough. The following paragraph describes the decision, but be warned: there are spoilers ahead.
[Warning: The following paragraph contains spoilers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.]
After recruiting Davrin during the mission “A director’s best friend,” Rook and his allies are alerted to two simultaneous dragon attacks: one on Minrathous and one on Treviso. They will only be able to help the people of one city, while the other will be left to its own devices. This is further complicated by the fact that that Minrathous is Neve’s hometown and Treviso is the city of Lucanis. Any city the player does not choose to save will be destroyed, any unfinished quests (including side quests) will automatically end, and. the associated companion will become Hardened.
Frankly, neither Neve nor Lucanis are particularly good healers. Neve is primarily a DPS mage, specializing in ice-elemental magic that freezes and pierces enemies. Lucanis has a decent healing ability, Soothing Potion, which restores Rook’s HP with a Rejuvenation effect – that is, in gradual increments, not all at once. But he’s definitely also more of a damage dealer, with a necrotic focus. Harding also has the same Calming Potion ability, and ultimately, Bellara is by far the better healer.
Therefore, there is nothing in either companion’s skill set that the player cannot do without. if they decide to make one or the other Hardened. If they are having trouble making a decision, it is more practical to allow any character the player doesn’t want to date to become Hardened. Both characters are still perfectly viable in combat once they’re hardened – in fact, they’ll be quite a bit more powerful. The only real and definitive negative impact of becoming Hardened is its effect on relationship progress, which, while it doesn’t make romance impossible, will certainly make it more difficult.
How to reverse hardening
Can a hardened character be changed?
Fortunately, the Hardened status effect can always be reversed, but it takes time and focused effort. To return your Hardened companion to its previous state, Rook will need to choose kind and sympathetic dialogue options with them whenever possible. This should be fairly easy to achieve during gameplay; just make sure you pay special attention to their personal missions, and make sure Rook is responding thoughtfully when they talk about their sorrows.
Once your hardening is reversed, the companion will begin to act like before again. Their personality and dialogue will change and they will have access to any support abilities they missed. The only long-term effect is that Rook’s relationship progress with them will likely take a backseat. They will not regain all the bond points they lost in the meantime. However, throw them in the group for a few missions and they should be back to normal soon. Just remember that affinity with your partner becomes very important in The Veil Guardfinal chapters, so it’s not something to ignore.
Although the Hardened status effect seems negative at first, it can always be reversed. It is important to be careful with choices that could strengthen a potential romantic interest, as they may slow the player’s progress along that particular path. Either way, a Hardened character is just as useful as a non-Hardened one in Dragon Age: The Veil Guard – perhaps even more so with the damage boosts provided.