During the final chapters of romance options in The Veilguard: either the elf mage Bellara, or the human mage Neve.

[Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.]

This is the second major decision players make during the late-game quest "Isle of Gods," after choosing whether Harding or Davrin should lead the distraction party. The results of this choice aren't quite so devastating, but they're still important to the player's strategy in the final hours of the game, and should certainly not be taken lightly. Which character is chosen will affect romance possibilities, as well as change who is by your side during fights to come. Either choice can be good or bad, depending on personal roleplaying decisions.

What Leads Up To The Choice In The Isle Of The Gods Quest

Why The Decision Must Be Made

During the quest "Isle of the Gods" the party is launching an attack to kill Ghilan'nain. Whether Harding or Davrin were chosen for the distraction team, they will re the party shortly before you reach the inner sanctum. Here, the group faces a large Fade tear and the path onward is blocked by strong blood magic wards and Neve points out that "one touch could kill."

Bellara is the first to speak up, stating that she sees familiar patterns and thinks she can fracture the harmonics. Neve then chimes in to point out that she has dealt with blood magic before and can stop the damage long enough to burn out the wards, which Bellara feels is too risky. Neve counters by saying that Bellara's way is equally risky, and they turn to Rook for the player to make their choice of who should take care of the situation.

What Happens If You Let Bellara Dismantle The Magic Wards?

Pros & Cons Of Choosing Bellara

Whomever the player chooses to dismantle the magic wards during "Isle of Gods" will be captured during the effort, thereby becoming unavailable until they are rescued close to the end of the game. If that's Bellara, then she will attempt to deactivate the wards using her own knowledge of ancient elven magic. She'll succeed, opening the way for the rest of the party to continue their mission, but will be captured in Elgar'nan's trap as a result.

Choosing either Neve or Bellara also causes a slight approval decrease in whichever companion Rook didn't select. They're interpreting Rook's choice against them as an innate distrust in their magical skills; while that may not necessarily be true, they still feel the hurt. This may harm the player's chances of romancing the Dragon Age character they don't choose, although perhaps not as much as allowing them to be kidnapped.

Bellara will immediately become unavailable as a party member for the majority of what's left of the game. Players won't be able to put her in the party or speak to her between missions. The impact of that depends on a player's particular style, as well as how they've developed Bellara's skills throughout the campaign. Bellara is an excellent character, and may easily have become the party's go-to healer by this late stage of the game. Harding and Lucanis also make decent healers, especially if Lucanis isn't hardened (i.e., if the player chose to save Treviso), so Bellara isn't irreplaceable.

Bellara has a powerful healing ability called Contingency that causes her to auto-cast a healing spell whenever she or a party member drops beneath 30% health. This spell doesn't inflict a skill cooldown.

This also means that, if the player has yet to complete Bellara's storyline through her final personal quest, "The Forest of Spirits," they may no longer have the opportunity. That includes romance efforts: if Bellara is kidnapped, the player won't be able to see her final romance scene after "Isle of Gods."

Of course, if the player has already completed Bellara's personal quest line to satisfaction, but doesn't plan to romance her, then there's really no harm in sending her to dismantle the ward. Bellara will ultimately survive, and Rook will go on to rescue her as part of a later story mission. From a roleplaying perspective, this can actually be a great motivator for a Rook who really cares about their companions; a kindhearted Rook will surely want to save Bellara, making for an emotionally fraught climax.

What Happens If You Let Neve Dismantle The Magic Wards?

Pros & Cons Of Choosing Neve

In a similar way, letting Neve dismantle the wards in "Isle of Gods" will also result in her capture by Elgar'nan. She'll survive, and Rook will be able to rescue her later, but she'll no longer be a playable character for the rest of the game. That means romancing Neve and finishing her personal quest line (through "The Returned Cultist Case") will no longer be available. Bellara will disapprove slightly of Rook's implicit distrust in her ward-dismantling abilities, but the affinity is recoverable.

Like Bellara, Neve can be either a healer or a damage-dealer. However, Bellara's abilities are better overall, so it's often best to keep Neve as a DPS. Neve specializes in ice elemental damage, which is hard to find in most other companions. The game isn't unbeatable without her, but if the player has come to rely on Neve, they might want to give sending her away a second thought.

Another important consideration is the choice of which companions will participate in "The Last Gambit." During this pivotal mission, Rook will need to choose which companions will which faction, and will need a companion with a wealth of magical knowledge to help out the Veil Jumpers. Neve is one of the best choices for this mission, but having her unavailable may force players to send Bellara instead.

Either Choice Is Good, But Perhaps Sending Bellara Is The Better Option

Unless You're Romancing Her

While playing through my first run of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I chose to have Neve dismantle the wards. This was primarily because at the time I did not know what would happen, and, personally, I liked Bellara better and wanted to protect her as I suspected a trap. Neve was taken, and I rescued her later, filled with blight. As I had previously also slighted Neve on the choice of whether to save Dock Town or Treviso, I suppose I felt that our relationship was already damaged and so sending her made more sense.

Ultimately, the choice comes down to whatever you prefer, as neither option changes anything dramatically other than the story with the characters themselves and their affinity for Rook, which will hinder any possible romance with them. In most cases, players are better off sending Bellara to dismantle the magic wards during "Isle of Gods." This way, players can still have Neve available for "The Last Gambit," or keep her in the party if they so choose. The affinity decrease is negligible, and unlikely to destroy the player's chances of romancing Neve this late in the game.

The player's choices in "The Last Gambit" don't affect romance, as the final romance scenes play out before this quest even begins.

Bellara can easily be swapped for another healer, although the final battles may be slightly more difficult as a result (Harding, a non-hardened Lucanis, or even Neve make excellent candidates). She's not necessary for "The Last Gambit," and doesn't play a part in any further pivotal choices, so the player can certainly do without her as long as they make sure that another healer is skilled properly.

That was another part of my choice to send Neve to dismantle the wards, as Bellara was the ideal healer in my group dynamics. Additionally, if the player has chosen to romance Bellara, they'll certainly want to send Neve to dismantle the magic wards. , this is the only way to see Bellara's final romance scene.

Although Bellara is the better choice in many cases, both options are viable. Players should ultimately choose whichever companion they're less attached to during this pivotal Dragon Age: The Veilguard quest, keeping in mind they won't be able to see them again until shortly before they finish the game, and the state of that character will be less than cheerful after they are rescued.