What the Dragon Age Veilguard Hardened effect is and how to remove it
A companion can become Hardened in Dragon Age Veilguard, making them less trusting of Rook
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The Dragon Age Veilguard Hardened condition can affect only a couple of companions, and it doesn’t seem like there’s a way to soften them up. The Hardened condition reflects the fact that the affected companion is much less trusting of you, feeling a little betrayed after a particular choice inDragon Age The Veilguard. That mistrust means it becomes harder for you to build a relationship with them, and that they refuse to use certain abilities in their repertoire to support you, but some abilities also deal increased damage in combat to compensate. It’s an unusual condition that isn’t fully explained, so I’ve laid out everything I know about the Dragon Age Veilguard Hardened effect below.Watch out for some Dragon Age Veilguard spoilers below.
How to remove Hardened in Dragon Age Veilguard
As far as the GamesRadar+ team is aware,there is no way to remove the Hardened effect from either Neve or Lucanisafter making theDragon Age Veilguard Minrathous or Trevisochoice. This means whichever of these companions is affected is stuck withslower relationship progression, increased combat damage, and the inability to use certain supportive powersfor the rest of the game. Obviously, because it is tied to a main quest choice, it is also completely unavoidable.
Much later on, there’s a point where you need to complete a quest to try and set things right with your friend, showing them that you do in fact care and want to help, but this unfortunately does not lead to them trusting you enough to lose the Hardened effect.
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As an example, in my playthrough, Neve is my Hardened companion and after completing the relevant quest by helping in Dock Town, even choosing the romantic and supportive dialogue options at the end, she remains Hardened. Another member of the team who has a 100% completed game save confirmed that Lucanis was stuck with the Hardened effect for the entirety of their playthrough too.
The good news is that Lucanis and Neve seem to be the only twoDragon Age Veilguard companionsthat can be affected by Hardened, as it doesn’t come up again after the major Minthrous or Treviso choice. It also doesn’t seem like you’re locked out of aDragon Age Veilguard romancewith whichever companion is Hardened, but the effect does specifically make it harder to get that romantic spark.
If you want to read what we thought about the entire game, be sure to read ourDragon Age The Veilguard review, and you can judge how it stacks up against thebest RPGsyou can play right now.© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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Will Sawyer is a guides writer at GamesRadar+ who works with the rest of the guides team to give readers great information and advice on the best items, how to complete a particular challenge, or where to go in some of the biggest video games. Will joined the GameRadar+ team in August 2021 and has written about service titles, including Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Warzone, as well as some of the biggest releases like Halo Infinite, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok.
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