Embark on a thrilling journey through Thedas in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, where seven unique companions await your call-each bringing their own skills, secrets, and stories to your party. From the sharp-eyed scout Lace Harding to the enigmatic mage Bellara, and the battle-hardened Grey Warden Davrin, learn how to recruit these captivating allies and unlock their full potential, including romance options, faction ties, and personal quests that shape your epic adventure. Discover the paths to unite your team and master the art of companionship in this definitive guide.
The most important part of that process is completing each companion’s personal quest and spending enough time with them to max out their respective bond level. Strong bonds aren’t just important for battle (though reaching new bond levels does give you skill points to spend on companions). It can even make the difference between who lives and dies.
Our Dragon Age: The Veilguard guide breaks down all companions who join your party, how to start their companion quests, and how to keep relationships strong during your journey.
How to recruit all Dragon Age: The Veilguard companions
In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, recruiting all seven companions is essential for a well-rounded party, each bringing unique classes, faction ties, and personal quests. You will meet them gradually throughout the first half of the main storyline, ensuring no companion is missed. Key companions include Lace Harding, Neve Gallus, Bellara Lutare, Lucanis Dellamorte, Davrin, Emmrich Volkarin, and Taash. Recruitment typically happens during specific story quests or exploration milestones, such as Bellara joining during the quest “In Entropy’s Grasp.” Building relationships through companion quests and dialogue is crucial, as it unlocks new abilities and romance options. By the end of Act 1, you should have all companions in your roster, ready to aid you in combat and story decisions.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard puts seven companions in your path, and since you gather them as part of the main story during Veilguard’s first half, it’s impossible to miss any of them. Each companion has a predetermined class, and is associated with one of the six factions in The Veilguard. And yes, you can romance all of them.
At a glance, your companions are:
- Lace Harding, a dwarf warrior whom you may recognize from Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Neve Gallus, a human mage affiliated with the Shadow Dragons
- Bellara Lutare, an elf mage affiliated with the Veil Jumpers
- Lucanis Dellamorte, a human rogue affiliated with the Antivan Crows
- Davrin, a human warrior affiliated with the Grey Wardens
- Emmrich Volkarin, a human mage affiliated with the Mourn Watch
- Taash, a Qunari warrior affiliated with the Lords of Fortune
Scroll through the image gallery above to see each companion. Below, find some details about when in the game you’ll recruit each of them.
Lace Harding
Lace joins your party automatically during the prologue mission, “The End of the Beginning.” She remains with you throughout the game. However, if you choose to take Harding when you bring down the statue and stop Solas’ ritual, she’ll suffer injuries and behave differently for the next few missions.
Neve Gallus
Neve also joins your party during the “End of the Beginning,” and, if you take Neve to stop the ritual instead, she gets injured and alters her attitude toward you for a short time after.
Bellara Lutare
You find Bellara in Arlathan Forest during “In Entropy’s Grasp,” and she joins you immediately.
Lucanis Dellamorte
Finding Lucanis takes a bit of effort. At a fork in the narrative, you’re given the chance to visit Dock Town or Treviso. After going to Treviso, you speak with the Crows’ leader, then end up in a rogue mage’s underwater research lab, where the “Sea of Blood” quest starts. You’ll find Lucanis partway through the mission, doing rather well for himself against a group of Venatori.
Davrin
After an interval back in Dock Town, you’ll travel to the hinterlands for the mission “A Warden’s Best Friend.” Davrin joins at the start, alongside his adorable griffon friend, Assam.
Emmrich Volkarin
Emmrich is your guide to Nevarra’s Necropolis, and he tags along during the “Where the Dead Must Go” mission. You can also choose “The Dragon Slayer” instead and recruit Taash first. The mission order doesn’t matter.
Taash
Taash is on a mission for the Lords of Fortune in Rivain, one that puts her in conflict with the Antaam in “The Dragon Slayer” quest. She joins as soon as the mission starts.
Can companions leave or die in Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, companions can indeed leave or die, but this only occurs in the later stages of the game, particularly after chapter 12. Early on, companions are essentially immortal, but as the story progresses, player choices during critical missions, such as the “Isle of the Gods” quest, can lead to permanent deaths or kidnappings of key companions. Notably, during this quest, players must choose between Harding or Davrin to lead a distraction, and the chosen companion will die. While it is impossible to keep all companions alive by the end of the game, completing their personal quests and increasing their trust level with the protagonist can reduce the chances of their death. Overall, companion survival heavily depends on player decisions and how well the team is managed in the final chapters.
Characters can die depending on how strong your bond is with each party member, but Veilguard makes it plain when they’re in danger. Without spoiling anything, you don’t have to worry about companions facing mortal harm until much later in the game.
As far as we can tell, companion approval is separate from their bond level. We made several choices that Harding disapproved of in the first few missions and irritated her during conversations, and she still had the highest bond level by the time we’d assembled the entire Veilguard.
Completing their faction and personal quests and speaking to them when the time-limited conversation icon pops up next to their location icon at the Lighthouse are solid ways to ensure your bond remains in good shape. Make sure not to ignore companions – or the ones you like, at any rate – and don’t worry too much about making the wrong choice during dialogue.
That said, choices you make throughout Veilguard will influence your relationship with each companion, and some may leave for a time and come back changed. For example, one early mission tasks you with deciding to save one city over another. The companion with ties to the city you don’t save will be unavailable for the next few missions and comes back “hardened.” The hardened state increases the power of their physical attacks, makes them unable to use support abilities, and influences their attitude during conversations with you.
How to start all companion quests in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
To start all companion quests in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you need to progress through the main story and regularly check back at the Lighthouse, the game’s hub area, where companion quests become available as you advance. Each companion has specific prerequisite main quests that unlock their personal questlines. For example, Neve Gallus’s quests begin after completing key story missions like “Shadow of Minrathous” and “Blood of Arlathan,” while Lace Harding’s quests unlock following missions such as “The Smuggled Relic Case” and “Fire and Ice.” Engaging in these companion quests not only reveals deeper backstories and strengthens bonds-crucial for romance and unlocking powerful rewards-but also contributes to turning companions into “Heroes of the Veilguard,” enhancing their abilities for the final battle.
Every Veilguard companion has a lengthy questline. You can tell when a character is ready to chat – starting their companion quest chain – by opening the map when you’re at the Lighthouse, your primary hub. If a character’s icon is marked with a yellow exclamation point, talk to them.
While these are technically optional, completing them increases your bond with the companion in question, and you’ll often get gear for them during the quest as well. If you’re really attached to a particular companion, you’ll definitely want complete their quest chain before the endgame. Some chains pop up shortly after a companion joins you, but several – especially those for companions who join you a bit later on – only show up after you’ve progressed the story further.
Even if you don’t care much for them or plan on using them in battle, it’s worth completing companion quests to unlock their exploration abilities. Harding’s ability, for example, moves stone and makes it possible to reach previously inaccessible areas, and as far as we can tell, you don’t unlock it unless you complete the first part of her companion quest.
Every companion questline consists of four or more quests, of which at least two are classified as “Outings.” Outings are smaller, more focused quests where just you and the companion in question complete a specific task, and in addition to increasing their bond level, these Outing quests usually present you with several opportunities to improve your approval rating with that companion.
Each companion questline also has one major choice near the end that determines how your companion will handle a serious issue they face, and they also earn different rewards or learn different skills depending on your choice in that moment.
You can also purchase gift items for each companion at merchants in cities with ties to specific companions – for example, the Warden merchant in the Hossberg Wetlands sells a curio for Davrin. These are logged as quests, but completing them is just a matter of purchasing the item and giving it to the right person. It’s a straightforward task, since the gifts are marked with a companion icon, and you can’t give them to anyone else.
Companions will often give you faction quests as well. In our experience, completing these makes no difference to your bond with a companion, though if you want to max out faction reputation, it’s still worth your time to take these missions on.
Harding’s companion quest
The first part of Harding’s quest is called “An Unfamiliar Sense.” Speak with Harding at the Lighthouse after retrieving Solas’ dagger from Arlathan Forest during “The Singing Blade” to add this one to your journal.
Harding’s quest centers on how she reacts to her newfound powers after coming into contact with Solas’ lyrium dagger, and it’s tied to a fair bit of dwarven lore as well – something rarely seen in Dragon Age games.
Bellara’s companion quest
“Echoes of the Past,” Bellara’s quest, also shows up after you complete “The Singing Blade” and can travel freely to locations on the world map. Speak with Bellara in her workshop to get started.
Bellara’s quest follows her attempts to understand the Archive, the strange, broken spirit you encounter near the start of the game. However, it’s just as much about Bellara learning to understand herself as it is about her relationship with technology and magic.
Neve’s companion quest
You can begin Neve’s quest after finishing the “Shadow of Minrathous” mission. Speak with her in her room at the Lighthouse, and she’ll recommend going back to Dock Town, which adds “A Study of Dock Town” to your journal. This quest becomes unavailable if you don’t complete it before the dragon shows up and if you choose to head to Treviso over Minrathous.
Neve’s quest is essentially a deep dive into the seedy underbelly of Minrathous. It’s like one of her detective stories, only you get to take part in it and learn more about Neve and her difficult past as a result.
Lucanis’ companion quest
“Coffee with the Crows” is Lucanis’ first companion quest, and you can grab it by speaking with him at the Lighthouse after saving him during the “Sea of Blood” quest. Like Neve’s companion quest, “Coffee with the Crows” is blocked off if you don’t complete it before the dragon shows up and if you choose to head to Minrathous over Treviso.
Lucanis’ quest explores what happens to the Crows after the dragon attack and uncovers dark secrets at the heart of Lucanis’ past – and family. Spite, the demon living inside his head, also has a role to play, and as you’d expect from a story about demons and assassins, things get pretty dark.
Davrin’s companion quest
Davrin’s quest begins with “How to Train a Griffon,” an outing mission that becomes available after you first speak with him at the Lighthouse once the quest “A Warden’s Best Friend” ends.
Davrin’s quest explores his relationship to Assan and tasks him with deciding the fate of griffons in general viz a viz the Grey Wardens. All this takes place as he hunts the Gloom Howler, the Blighted creature who first appeared during the mission where you meet Davrin.
Emmrich’s companion quest
Emmrich’s quest starts with a trip back to Nevarra in the “Walking the Graves” outing. It should become available after you finish the main story quest “Where the Dead Go,” which is when Emmrich joins you, but you might have to leave the Lighthouse and return a few times to get through an event with him and Harding to receive the first Mourn Watch faction quest.
Emmrich’s companion quest is, perhaps unsurprisingly, rather more on the esoteric side of things, and it explores views of life, death, and the nature of existence in northern Thedas. At the center of all this is Manfred, his skeleton assistant, and the lengths Emmrich will go to in order to save him.
Taash’s companion quest
Taash joins you during the Dragon Slayer main story quest, and her first companion quest, “Fire on the Sands,” unlocks soon after. As with Emmrich, you may need to get through other events first before Taash broaches the subject of her personal problems. It’s worth the hassle, though, as you’ll get access to the Hall of Valor and Isabela’s fighting arena.
Back to Taash, though. Her quest digs into Qunari culture and identity while also exploring that curious little matter of Taash breathing fire – generally something most Qunari can’t do.
Discover the secrets behind recruiting all seven companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
To recruit all seven companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you simply progress through the main story quests, as each companion joins during key missions in the first half of the game. The companions are:
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Lace Harding and Neve Gallus join early during the quest The End of the Beginning.
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Bellara is recruited in In Entropy’s Grasp.
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Lucanis joins during Sea of Blood.
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Davrin is recruited in A Warden’s Best Friend.
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Taash and Emmrich both join around the same time during The Dragon Slayer and Where the Dead Must Go quests.
None of the companions are missable if you follow the main questline, and all are romanceable with no gender restrictions. Building strong bonds through their personal quests and interactions not only unlocks romance but also grants combat benefits and influences story outcomes.
What are the specific steps to unlock each of the seven companions in Veilguard
Here are the specific steps to unlock each of the seven companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, listed in the order they become available through main story quests:
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Lace Harding (Rogue, Inquisition scout)
Recruited early during the quest The End of the Beginning shortly after meeting Varric. Harding is your first companion and can be found at the Lighthouse once recruited. -
Neve Gallus (Mage, Shadow Dragons)
Also recruited during The End of the Beginning quest after defeating the Venatori at Dumat Plaza. Neve is a detective and joins alongside Harding. -
Bellara (Mage, Veil Jumpers)
Joins during the quest In Entropy’s Grasp, roughly 1-2 hours into the game. She is an elven scholar of ancient magic and technology. -
Lucanis (Rogue, Antivan Crows)
Recruited in the quest Sea of Blood, about 3-4 hours into the campaign. Lucanis is a human assassin possessed by a demon. -
Davrin (Warrior, Grey Wardens)
Joins during A Warden’s Best Friend, approximately 4-6 hours in. He is an elf knight training a young griffon. -
Taash (Warrior, Lords of Fortune)
Recruited during A Dragon Slayer, around 8-12 hours into the story. Taash is a Qunari dragon hunter. -
Emmrich (Mage, Mourn Watch)
Joins in the quest Where the Dead Must Go, also around 8-12 hours in. Emmrich is a high-class necromancer and academic.
All companions join through main story progression, so none are missable if you follow the campaign. After recruitment, each companion has their own personal questline that unlocks by interacting with them at the Lighthouse hub, indicated by a yellow exclamation mark on the map. Completing these quests strengthens your bond, unlocks exploration perks, and provides unique gear.
