If there's one thing I'll be daydreaming about ahead of launch, it's all the romance options in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Characters have always been one of the best parts of the Dragon Age series, thanks in no small part to detailed personal quests and really compelling romances. Romanceable companions in the series have inspired no small amount of loyalty and fanaticism in the fandom. If you don't have a Fenris versus Anders feud in your friend group, well, I envy you.
So far, we know at least a little bit about all of Rook's companions in The Veilguard from its trailers. There are also clues about many of them to find in the free short stories BioWare published for Dragon Age Day and in the published short story collection Tevinter Nights.
Recent updates
August 27: I've just re-read Tevinter Nights for myself, so please enjoy some new selected quotes and insights (particularly on Lucanis) that I've pulled out below.
But we'll be hearing a lot more about all of them during the "companions week" that BioWare has scheduled to start on August 26. Until then, this is everything we know about how romance works and who you can pursue.
How does romance work in The Veilguard?
Romancing companions in The Veilguard will work pretty similarly to Dragon Age: Inquisition, from what we know so far. You'll take on quests relevant to your companions' backstories and, if you want to be more than friends, choose flirtatious dialogue lines at opportune moments.
This time (as in Dragon Age 2) all seven of your companions are pansexual and are open to a relationship with Rook regardless of race or gender. Importantly, those you don't choose to have a relationship with might wind up dating each other—like how Dorian and The Iron Bull had an alluded-to relationship in Inquisition if neither were with the Inquisitor.
As is the usual for Dragon Age, romance with different companions will involve sex scenes later in the game as things get more serious. Though just how far the nudity in those scenes extends is something BioWare said it wants players to discover for themselves, apparently.
Bellara
Bellara Lutare
- Class: Mage
- Faction: Veil Jumpers
- Written by: John Epler
- Voice: Jee Young Han
Bellara is an elf and member of the Veil Jumpers who explore ancient elven ruins. She's described as "creative, romantic, and obsessed with uncovering the secrets of ancient Elvhenan. She has a strong sense of self—a clear idea of who she is and what she wants—and will push herself to her limits to find the answers she seeks."
BioWare has explained that the gauntlet she wears was created to make manipulating magic easier when working with artifacts and constructs found in those ruins. While there hasn't been much of Bellara's personality revealed yet, she seems inquisitive and upbeat in the brief lines she's spoken in trailers.
Davrin
Davrin
- Class: Warrior
- Faction: Grey Wardens
- Written by: John Dombrow
- Voice: Ike Amadi
Davrin is an elf and Grey Warden with a griffon companion called Assan who everyone is understandably already in love with. As for his backstory, BioWare says: "Though he was raised in a Dalish clan, he craved excitement and adventure. He’d rather make history than reflect on it."
The blight-battling Wardens were the focus of Dragon Age: Origins and have made appearances in other parts of the series as well, so there's plenty of established lore about his affiliation, at least. His personality isn't too obvious yet, but based on all most of the Wardens in the series he's likely to be a very earnest, knight-in-shining-armor-type guy.
Emmrich
Emmrich Volkarin
- Class: Mage (Necromancer)
- Faction: Mourn Watch
- Written by: Sylvia Feketekuty
- Voice: Nick Boraine
Emmrich is a human necromancer and a member of the Mourn Watch, one of the guardians of the Grand Necropolis in Nevarra. He's also got a skeleton familiar called Manfred who's being voiced by Matthew Mercer. BioWare says he is "as serious about his duty to protect innocents from the occult as he is about his studies."
Ornately decorated skulls hung from hooks in the high, dark ceiling. One wall was made up of shelves with books and tiny labeled drawers. The other was fronted by tables full of bubbling flasks, scales, alembics, and tortured-looking glass.
Emmrich's study in Tevinter Nights
He turned up in the Tevinter Nights set of short stories, but his time on page is very brief. We know that he's part of the Mortalitasi, the group in Nevarra that trains all mages. He seems to be both studious and kind, helping to rehabilitate a new, non-agressive revenant of a guard who died unexpectedly. He definitely seems to have a real soft spot for the undead, also shown in the additional short story "The Flame Eternal."
One thing we do know, specific to his romance, is that he's "a gentleman necromancer," BioWare told IGN, who "is more intimate and sensual." Based on how I've seen a lot of you acting on social media, that description is really resonating.
Harding
Lace Harding
- Class: Rogue
- Faction: Formerly the Inquisition
- Written by: Sheryl Chee
- Voice: Ali Hillis
Lace Harding, formerly Scout Harding of the Inquisition, is a dwarf and a rogue with a slightly dry sense of humor but a positive outlook and a lot of empathy. She definitely has the most established background and personality prior to The Veilguard.
Harding grew up in The Hinterlands, the first major explorable area of Dragon Age: Inquisition, and joined up with the movement as a scout. "Harding is still a girl from Ferelden," BioWare says. "She loves adventure, animals, and nature and is fiercely protective of her family and friends."
She didn't actually have that much screen time in Inquisition but she made a big impression on fans by always turning up to introduce the Inquisitor to a new explorable area with a kind word. There were a couple opportunities for the Inquisitor to flirt with Harding but it didn't turn into a full romance like with other companions.
Harding has been seen a lot in Veilguard so far in various trailers and the gameplay reveal, making it clear she'll meet Rook very early in the plot and help introduce them to Minrathous and other companions.
Lucanis
Lucanis Dellamorte
- Class: Rogue
- Faction: Antivan Crows
- Written by: Mary Kirby
- Voice: Zach Mendez
Lucanis is a human rogue and a member of the Antivan Crows. Not just any Crow, either; he's the grandson of current leader Caterina Dellamorte.
Lucanis stared ahead, focused and intense. He was the kind of man you couldn't look away from—until he looked at you.
Tevinter Nights
He's deadly and efficient but has a soft spot for protecting innocents that can compromise a mission, as shown in his story "The Wigmaker Job" in Tevinter Nights. That's also where we learn that he and his cousin Illario are favorites to lead the Crows next, though Lucanis expresses disinterest in that responsibility. At one point in that story, he jokes about growing a beard to hide his identity if the Venatori in Tevinter ever learn his face. He does in fact appear to have done that, and not for nothing. In another short story "The Wake," it seems that Illario is mourning Lucanis' death. My bet is that Lucanis is presumed dead by most of the Crows—maybe at the direction of his grandmother—by the time he becomes involved in Veilguard.
Everything we've seen of him suggests he's going to be standoffish and mysterious, but maybe he's not quite as tight-laced as he seems. "He is the sole dumpster fire of the crew," Mary Kirby posted in June. "I wrote him specifically to be a bisexual disaster of a human." There you have it. Zevran enjoyers, please come collect your man.
Neve
Neve Gallus
- Class: Mage (Ice)
- Faction: Shadow Dragons
- Written by: Brianne Battye
- Voice: Jessica Clark
Neve is a human mage, a private investigator, and a member of the underground Shadow Dragon faction in Tevinter. "Born and raised in a working-class neighborhood of Minrathous, she does not believe in the superiority of mages," BioWare says.
Do you want to know why I don't like working with templars? It's not your rules or sense of fair play. It's because there are people like you and Jahvis who try. Or you want to. And too many times out of ten, it's the wrong coin in the right hands that makes you stop.
Neve Gallus in Tevinter Nights
So far we've seen a decent bit of dialogue with her in the gameplay reveal suggesting she's clever, witty, and maybe a little flirtatious. She's also the only one whose romance scenes we've actually seen hinted at. "You and me, Rook. Maybe that's what scares me." She says, a little coyly, in the release date trailer.
Neve also has her own story "The Streets of Minrathous" in Tevinter Nights. She has a very familiar freelance PI persona in that story: jaded by experience but with a compassionate side that won't let her leave a cold case open.
Not for nothing but I'm also taking a little bet that she might be the mage who betrays me this time around. Having one pulled over on you by a magical lover is something of a series tradition at this point—please accept my condolences, Solasmancers.
Taash
Taash
- Class: Warrior
- Faction: Lords of Fortune
- Written by: Trick Weekes
- Voice: Jin Maley
Tash is a qunari warrior and member of the Lords of Fortune, a guild of treasure hunters based out of Rivain. That explains all the gold jewelry and the emerald horn. She's one of the romance options we know least about so far. BioWare describes her as "blunt and straightforward," but says she's also "deeply knowledgeable about many topics."
Tash is also referred to as a dragon hunter, which totals up to a lot of similarities between her and The Iron Bull, a romanceable companion from Inquisition also written by Weekes. That's not to say we can expect exactly the same kind of romance—Bull's was pretty dang memorable—but I'm betting that as a known treasure hunter she has a similar level of swagger.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard's skill trees might've twisted my node-loving, build-tinkering sicko arm just enough to get me excited about playing it
It's no wonder Dragon Age: The Veilguard was Steam Deck Verified so quickly: it'll run on a 10-year-old graphics card that was new when Inquisition came out
