Should you take Harding or Neve to fight Solas in Dragon Age: The Veilguard? From the onset, Bioware’s RPG presents you with difficult, meaningful choices. While Harding’s sharp eye and heavy single-target damage are great at thinning out the crowds from afar, Neve’s AoE magic and protection spells come in clutch situations when health bars begin to blink.
You’re thrust into the heart of Minrathous, the magic-infused capital city of the infamous Tevinter Empire. After the ever-iconic bar brawl cinematic, you set out to find Neve Gallas, Minrathous’ premier detective who sports a very snazzy hat in the RPG game. Everything seems like it’s going OK in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, then Solas tears open The Veil and unleashes hordes of demons. There’s never a dull day in Thedas.
Choosing one over the other has its consequences, so here’s what happens in each instance – be aware, there are some major spoilers.
Having recruited Neve, you finally find Solas in Arlathan Forest, where his ritual is taking place. Varric, the beloved story-spinning dwarf, attempts to talk Solas down, leaning on their adventures during Dragon Age: Inquisition in an attempt to appeal to his humanity. Unfortunately, that doesn’t quite go as planned, and Rook, Harding, and Neve are tasked with intervening.
Should you take Harding or Neve to fight Solas in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
It’s pretty clear that Varric, despite his silver tongue, isn’t getting through to Solas, so our trio come up with a backup plan: topple the statues that Solas is using for the ritual. Harding will offer to join you, but Neve then interrupts, highlighting her magical prowess. Either way, one of them has to stay behind to fight off the onslaught of demons, and one of them has to come with you.
The outcome initially looks very similar: you tear down the statue to spoil Solas’ ritual. Whichever character you choose to take, however, will greatly approve of the decision, throwing open the romance door very early on.
With Solas’ plot seemingly disrupted, the area begins to fall apart. As you escape, whichever companion you took with you to destroy the tower will be badly injured, and when you see them next, they’ll look a little worse for wear. This changes the dialogue slightly, but the main thing is that ‘greatly approves’ prompt. They’ll also be unable to participate in the next major quest, In Entropy’s Grasp, which follows on directly from the events of the prologue.
Should you stop Varric in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
Just before the action mentioned above, you’ll have to decide whether to talk Varric down from speaking to Solas. Either way, the outcome is the same: Varric will always confront Solas.
As a result, Varric will always be stabbed with the Lyrium knife, and his beloved Bianca will always be broken. This is integral to the game’s plot, and therefore doesn’t change, no matter what decision you make. Veilguard hits hard, folks.
Neve and Harding are only two of your Dragon Age: The Veilguard companions, though; there’s a whole host of characters that you’ll recruit on your journey. If you’re wondering which one to settle down with, here’s how the Dragon Age: The Veilguard romance system works – I’ll be using that guide to help me score a moonlit walk through Treviso with Lucanis.