One of the main draws of Bioware games are their memorable casts of characters. These characters serve many roles in a proper Bioware RPG - they assist in combat, spew lore exposition, serve as proxies for various factions, get involved in the main storyline and moderate the player’s behavior by approving or disapproving of certain actions, to name a few. As a culmination of many of these gameplay roles companions may serve as a romantic interest for your main character, as well, a matter of significant interest for dedicated role-playing game aficionados out there. This page will help illuminate the subject of companion romances in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, describing in broad strokes how they work and what to look out for.

Page Breakdown¶

Romancing Companions¶

Romancing companions in Bioware games is usually a matter of raising the companion’s approval rating via various means - picking certain dialog options, making choices that vibe the said companion, giving gifts, etc. Dragon Age: The Veilguard has streamlined many things, and romances are one of them, but the Bioware formula is still in effect. Your choices will earn or lose you favor with your companions, and this is still the single greatest factor in determining who you can romance, but in Dragon Age: The Veilguard you generally don’t have to worry about save/loading dialogs to boost your romantic interest’s approval as much, as there are plenty of opportunities to earn approval to the point where you really only need to keep a few things in mind:

• After every quest, return to The Lighthouse and see if any companion can be talked to - they will have an exclamation point or clock over their icon on the map. Talk to them every chance you can to boost their approval.

• Pick the flirt option every chance you get during dialog (flirt dialog options have a heart icon).

• Complete companion quests, and quests related to each companion’s faction.

• Give gifts.

Conversations and Approval¶

Talk is not idle, words are statements of intent, and actions have consequences. Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but your companions will, in typical Bioware fashion, respond to your words and deeds by either gaining approval or disapproval. If somebody likes you enough, they might become a romantic interest - all characters are playersexual and there are no racial turnoffs in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. With few exceptions, however, earning the odd bit of disapproval isn’t going to thwart your love life - if you’re dragging a companion along and constantly earning disapproval, it might become a problem, but it almost takes dedicated effort to tank a romance in this game. Bring your romantic interest to be along with you on quests to give yourself more chances to butter them up and check back on them at the Lighthouse after every quest to ensure you don’t miss opportunities to talk to your companions and boost their approval. Chats in the Lighthouse almost always earn approval, regardless of what you pick.

Being chummy is all well and good, but you almost might need a proper statement of intent to ensure your companions pick up on your romantic overtures. While talking to your companions you might get a dialog option with a heart icon, indicating a flirty response. If you want a romance, flirt every chance you get and your companion(s) will pick up on it… eventually.

Companion and Faction Quests¶

Surprise, surprise, companions like it where you prioritize things important to them. Completing companion quests has an outsized influence on your relationship, so any time a companion gives you such a quest (it’ll be listed under the “Companions” header in the Quests menu, with the relevant companion’s name over the name of the quest) you should be sure to complete them. Most of these quests are simple walk-and-talks, too, so it’s easy EXP and approval for very little effort.

While somewhat less impactful you also have “Factions and Regions” quests in the quest log, and every companion - save Harding - belongs to one of the game’s six factions. There’s a good chance that taking the relevant companion along and helping out their faction will earn approval with them, so be sure to take care of those quests, too!

Gifts¶

Another subject of streamlining in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are gifts. No longer will you hoover up a random assortment of debris you can give to your pals, hoping they like them, save-scumming (or looking up a guide) to ensure you’re giving the right gifts to the right companions. Gifts in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are both rarer and more meaningful, cutting out the busywork and instead allowing you to buy presents of especial significance and give them to a companion. These are marked clearly as “Gifts” and are found in the “Valuables and Collectibles” section of stores, and when you buy a gift a companion quest will pop up so you know exactly who each gift goes to.

Checking Companion Statuses¶

Your relationships are somewhat murky in Dragon Age: The Veilguard - other Dragon Age games often did you the courtesy of providing some visual aid to help you know how you were getting along, but this time it’s a bit more vague. Go into the “Companions” tab in the main menu and on the lefthand side of the screen you will see your bond level with each character. This is not a reflection of your relationship as far as romance goes, as your bond level is more akin to each character’s EXP than a relationship gauge, but the flavor text underneath can be more revealing. If you see something innocuous describing the character with a text bubble next to it, like “Eluvian Expert”, you’re more or less neutral with that character. A thumbs up next to the text means you’re on good terms. A heart, however, indicates a budding romance. These changes tend to move slowly and don’t always reflect the in-game feel of a relationship, so don’t get too worked up about them.

Multiple Romances and the Point of No Return¶

As is standard for a Bioware game, while you can flirt freely, you can only romance one character. At some point you’ll need to choose. Most romances won’t make significant progress until you’re fairly deep in the game, so just be sure to follow the advice above: talk, flirt, give gifts and complete companion/faction quests. After the main quest [The Siege of Weisshaupt] is when things really get moving, romance-wise, as you’ll have many new companion quests and faction quests to sink your teeth into and really take relationships to the next level.

For in-depth guides on companion romances, check out the following pages:

• Bellara
• Davrin
• Emmrich
• Harding
• [Lucanis]
• Neve
• [Taash]