While the Dragon Age Veilguard Hardened condition can only be applied to a couple of your companions, it does make it more difficult to build up your rapport with whoever is affected and there doesn't appear to be a way to soften them up once it has happened. An ally affected by the Hardened condition has lost their trust in Rook, after feeling betrayed by a certain choice you're forced to make in Dragon Age The Veilguard. This lack of trust makes it more difficult to build your relationship with the companion in question, and while it leads to them refusing to use particular support abilities that will aid you, other abilities can compensate by dealing an increased amount of damage. This condition isn't explained in detail, so to get you up to speed here's everything you need to know about the Dragon Age Veilguard Hardened effect.
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 will be 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 are 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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