Dragon Age: The Veilguard - Hardened Skills Explained

There are various status effects to be wary of in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. You can be inflicted by burning, necrosis, and other dangers while in combat, but there are also status effects that can be an issue away from the action. Some are positive and come as part of the relationship system in the game, while others are negative.

You'll have noticed that some skills you've unlocked for Rook or your companions are Hardened in the Skills menu, without being given an explanation about what that really means. Since it can affect gameplay as well as the story, you'll want to know how to deal with it.

What Hardened Means

While it may appear on the skill tree before being explained to you, the Hardened effect will happen after particular choices in the main story. The first time you'll encounter it is after you choose which town to defend against the Dragons. Whoever you don't help out between Neve and Lucanis will become Hardened, affecting their skills.

If a character is Hardened, their relationship with Rook and the wider group is negatively impacted by a choice. They will become less trusting and more self-reliant, which affects their role in the group.

The strength of their damage-dealing abilities is increased, but they will no longer use support abilities. While they'll be powerful in fights, provided you can even add them to your party, they won't do things like heal you and the other party members.

Also, relationship progress is slowed while Hardened. If you complete quests with them in your party, you won't progress with them as you would with other characters, meaning they won't unlock new gear and abilities at the same rate.

Thankfully, as you progress in the story, Hardened characters will return to normal. You will need to make sure you choose the correct dialogue choices and treat the Hardened characters well. They will likely be behind your other companions in terms of relationship status once they're back to normal, but at least you won't have to worry about how effective they will be in combat.

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