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 in Dragon 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 Lucanis after making the Dragon Age Veilguard Minrathous or Treviso choice. This means whichever of these companions is affected is stuck with slower relationship progression, increased combat damage, and the inability to use certain supportive powers for 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.
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 two Dragon Age Veilguard companions that 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 a Dragon Age Veilguard romance with 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 our Dragon Age The Veilguard review, and you can judge how it stacks up against the best RPGs you can play right now.
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