Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Should Lucanis Imprison Or Free Illario?

Dragon Age: The Veilguard offers new and old fans of Bioware’s Dragon Age franchise the opportunity to dip their toes back into the rich world of Thedas. In Veilguard, players take on the role of Rook as they gather a team to battle ancient horrors and right wrongs across a vast swathe of northern Thedas. Veilguard has everything fans expect from a Dragon Age game, from its cast of romanceable companions to the choices the player can make regarding their team or the game world itself.

One such choice in Veilguard involves the demon-possessed assassin member of the team, Lucanis. Lucanis’s personal quest involves both coming to terms with his own literal inner demon while also defending Antiva and the Antivan Crows from enemies both within and without. At the end of Lucanis’s personal quest, players must make a major choice regarding one of Lucanis’s family members, Illario. While this choice has roleplay implications, it also has gameplay consequences too. This guide takes a look at whether players should choose to imprison Illario or free Illario instead.

When Does This Choice Take Place?

The choice to free or imprison Illario will present itself at the end of Lucanis’s personal quest line during the quest, Murder of Crows. If the player has completed all of the Treviso quests for the Antivan Crows, Lucanis will become a Hero of the Veilguard at the end of this quest.

It is not necessary to romance Lucanis to receive this quest, and players will also receive the quest if Treviso was blighted —- albeit locked to one outcome without any player choices.

What Happens When You Imprison Illario?

When it becomes clear that Illario is the traitor, Lucanis is conflicted about what to do. This conflict increases when it comes to actually deciding what to do with his traitorous cousin, so Lucanis asks Rook for their input. As well as offering good options for roleplay, the consequences of this choice matter for gameplay, too. If Lucanis imprisons Illario, he receives a specific set of legendary companion armor, as well as a specific Hero of the Veilguard ability unique to this pathway.

Imprisoning Illario boosts Lucanis’s efficacy as an attacker, with much more offensively oriented bonuses than those given by freeing him.

Crow’s Tenacity Legendary Armor

• Detonations against Knocked Down enemies deal Stagger to all enemies
• Stagger from Detonation increased by 50% per enemy hit

Demon Of Defiance Hero Of The Veilguard Skill

• +50% Critical damage for Lucanis
• Detonation damage +50% for Lucanis
• Lucanis’s Abilities deal +25% damage to enemies with an Affliction

Hardened Lucanis Removes The Choice Entirely

A Hardened Lucanis will only ever imprison Illario. If you did not save Treviso, Illario will be imprisoned by Lucanis with no option for Rook to intervene.

This choice does not appear to influence Lucanis’s performance during the endgame portion of the game, so it is a free choice in that sense, although it does come with the consequences outlined already.

What Happens When You Free Illario?

Freeing Illario is a much more forgiving choice, and some players may wish to do this for roleplay reasons. However, the choice also has gameplay implications, as Lucanis will receive a different set of armor and a different Veilguard Hero skill if this option is chosen.

Freeing Illario offers bonuses for utility purposes rather than straight offensive upgrades like the choice to imprison.

Crow’s Poise Legendary Armor

• Detonating an Overwhelmed enemy Detonates one other nearby Overwhelmed enemy with a 30-second cooldown
• Enemies near the second Detonation gain Vulnerability to Necrotic damage

Demon Of Rebellion Hero Of The Veilguard Skill

• Party Barrier damage +25%
• Resistances +10%

Hardened Lucanis Will Never Free Illario

A Hardened Lucanis will never free Illario. To free Illario, Rook must save Treviso.

Lucanis does not need to be romanced in order to free Illario.

Freeing Illario does not appear to impact Lucanis’s performance in the endgame portion of the game, so it can be chosen freely.

Should You Imprison Or Free Illario In Murder Of Crows?

Quite aside from the roleplay considerations, freeing or saving Illario is a difficult choice in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Lucanis’s legendary armors are visually different as well as providing different mechanics, so it’s worth considering which of these you like best, as even if you don’t like the bonuses, you can apply the armor’s visual effect using the wardrobe at the Lighthouse.

If Lucanis imprisons Illario, he becomes a much more offensive option in battle. This is great for players who can bring along a dedicated support companion in addition to Lucanis, but may not be appropriate for Mage players who need to bring Davrin or Taash and use Lucanis as a more supportive role.

If Lucanis frees Illario, he becomes better for support. His legendary armor, Crow’s Poise, is a bit more niche than the bonuses from Crow’s Tenacity, as it requires a specific kind of Primer to trigger and provides Necrotic damage. But, this effect is great in the right party composition, and the Demon of Rebellion Veilguard Hero skill is a nice resistance boost and offers good utility against annoying enemies with high or regenerating Barriers.

In general, players should probably choose to imprison Illario. Outside of roleplay or cosmetic considerations, this version of Lucanis offers bonuses that are easier to activate and use, and they benefit from more generalist builds than the alternative. These bonuses can be activated without much thought for party composition or skills in use, and they don’t rely on a specific damage type, so they offer players a little bit more flexibility.

The bonuses offered by freeing Illario require a bit more thought to activate, and while the boosts to resistance and Barrier damage are nice, they aren’t necessary and aren’t as generally useful as direct boosts to Lucanis’s efficacy in battle. The armor, thanks to a reliance on Necrotic damage to benefit from the Vulnerability, also requires specific choices for party composition and skills for Rook, which can be limiting to players.

Players should free Illario in specific circumstances, such as ones where they use Necrotic damage extensively, or have a build using Overwhelmed Detonations — or for roleplay/cosmetic purposes.