If you're into slow burn romance and personal demons, Lucanis is the man for you.

Lucanis Dellamorte is one of Dragon Age: The Veilguard's seven romanceable companions. Allied with the Antivan Crows faction, Lucanis is a reserved, socially withdrawn human rogue with a deep, dark secret--and he's arguably one of the most difficult characters to romance.

Whether you're struggling to win Lucanis' heart or are just looking for a few pointers, we've got you covered. Keep reading for a breakdown of Lucanis' various companion quests, his Hero Of The Veilguard rewards, the best ways to earn his affection, and how to avoid an easy-to-make early-game misstep that will lock you out of his romance for the rest of the game.

If your heart is reserved for another ally in The Veilguard, be sure to use our Dragon Age: The Veilguard romance options guide, which will walk you through each and every romantic entanglement the game has to offer.

Recruitment

Upon recruiting Lucanis, you'll find he takes the term "Antivan Crow" very seriously... and rather literally.

The earlier you pick up Lucanis, the better. When players first visit the Crossroads and meet The Caretaker, they'll be faced with the option of heading to either Minrathous or Treviso. You'll be able to recruit Lucanis in Treviso, and picking him up first will allow you to get a head start on earning his affection.

Avoiding romance lock-out

Lucanis appears to be the only character you can unintentionally lock yourself out of romancing.

Before players focus on wooing Lucanis, they'll want to focus on avoiding an early-game mistake that will make him unavailable to romance for the rest of the game. Oddly, this choice occurs after a Davrin-focused quest called A Warden's Best Friend, so it's easy to be caught off guard and make the wrong choice.

Prior to embarking on A Warden's Best Friend, it's a very, very good idea to completely all of the currently available sidequests--especially quests located in Minrathous and Treviso. There aren't too many of them this early in the game, and they won't take you too long to finish. Just visit each city, complete any active quests, and scan the map of each city for golden exclamation marks, as these signify the location of a side quest you haven't yet acquired. If you're dead-set on romancing Lucanis, you'll also want to purchase everything you can from the first vendor you meet in Minrathous/Dock Town, as you won't have another opportunity to purchase items there in the future. The three main quests you will absolutely want to finish prior to starting A Warden's Best Friend are:

• A Slow Poison
• A Study of Dock Town
• Coffee with the Crows

Be sure to stop by the Lighthouse after each of these quests to see if Lucanis or Neve need to speak with you, as some of the above quests (especially A Slow Poison) lead to follow-up conversations (and sometimes, an additional mini-quest) with Lucanis or Neve.

Once you're done tying up loose ends, head out to complete A Warden's Best friend. We recommend bringing Lucanis and Davrin along for this quest, as their in-game abilities complement each other well in combat, and most quests in the game reward you with an approval boost from both of the companions who came along for the ride.

At the end of A Warden's Best Friend, you'll be faced with a difficult choice. Both Neve's hometown of Minrathous and the city Lucanis calls home (Treviso) are under attack, and players are faced with a very Mass Effect-style choice: Help Lucanis save Treviso, or help Neve save Minrathous. Players who want to romance Lucanis must choose to save Treviso. Choosing to save Minrathous instead will result in the following dire consequences:

• Players instantly lose 100 faction approval with the Antivan Crows.
• Players instantly gain 250 faction approval with the Shadow Dragons.
• Players instantly lose access to the Antivan Crow vendor and can no longer purchase items from them.
• Players will have to rediscover any Fast-Travel Beacons they've unlocked in Treviso.
• Lucanis (temporarily) leaves the party, unwilling to leave his city unprotected.
• Lucanis becomes "Hardened," meaning he can no longer use certain support abilities (though his other combat abilities do get buffed).
• Lucanis' romance is permanently locked--even if players manage to earn back his trust, they are never given options to flirt with him.

Ultimately, choosing to save Treviso is the best choice even for players who aren't 100% sure they want to romance Lucanis. Saving Treviso will result in the following consequences:

• Players instantly lose 100 faction approval with the Shadow Dragons.
• Players instantly gain 250 faction approval with the Antivan Crows.
• Players instantly lose access to the Shadow Dragon vendor and can no longer purchase items from them.
• Players will have to rediscover any Fast-Travel Beacons they've unlocked in Minrathous.
• Neve (temporarily) leaves the party, unwilling to leave her city to face the threat alone.
• Neve becomes "Hardened," and can no longer use support abilities, though her offensive combat abilities get permanently buffed.
• Neve's romance is NOT locked. While re-earning Neve's trust is no small task, it can still be done, and she can still be romanced.

For the reasons listed above, saving Treviso is the best option for players who are sure they want to romance Lucanis and players who haven't fully decided who they want to romance yet, as this choice keeps all romance options open to the player.

Lucanis and Neve

Due to how long it takes to get the ball rolling with Lucanis, having Neve in your party can prove to be problematic.

If players do not romance Neve or Lucanis quickly enough, the two companions will ultimately end up in a romantic relationship of their own, which is why it's a good idea to improve Lucanis' approval score as quickly as possible, and always choose flirty dialogue options (indicated by a heart symbol on the dialogue wheel) when speaking to him.

Due to the damage saving Treviso does to Rook's relationship with Neve, players may wish to keep both Lucanis and Neve in their party as much as possible, to increase the approval of both characters. But it's worth noting that due to the nature of Lucanis' romance--which progresses much more slowly than other companion romances--having Neve and Lucanis in the same party will result in the player being subjected to endless flirty banter between the two companions. As long as you continue choosing to flirt with Lucanis at every opportunity, his romance with Neve won't go beyond flirting, but if you don't want to listen to Lucanis and Neve's constant flirting or are tired of feeling like a third wheel, it may be best to bench Neve until after Lucanis has committed to you, or only bring her along when Lucanis isn't in your party.

Lucanis' personal quests

The mage killer's personal quests force players to make some difficult choices.

The full list of Lucanis' questlines can be found below:

• Sea Of Blood
• Coffee with the Crows
• Bidding Farewell
• On Deadly Wings
• Bloodbath
• Inner Demons
• A Murder of Crows
• A Moment's Peace

Approval

Earning approval from Lucanis is easy if you know what to say.

Players who want to Romance Lucanis may wish to select the Antivan Crows as their Rook's faction--it'll provide a few faction-exclusive dialogue options, and also works well from a storytelling perspective. Our Rook was a female elf, and like Lucanis, we selected Rogue as her class and the Antivan Crows as her allied faction. That said, players of any race, gender, class, or allied faction can romance Lucanis--being an Antivan Crow Rogue just provides a few extra opportunities for approval.

As previously mentioned, keeping Lucanis in your party as much as possible is one of the easiest ways to increase his approval score. To check where you and Lucanis currently stand, see his character screen under the "Companions" tab. It will show a number between 1 and 10, along with a description of your current relationship.

Below is a list of actions and dialogue choices that will increase Lucanis' approval rating.

• Keep him in your party when completing quests, especially quests that see you fighting Antaam in Treviso or fighting major demons in the Necropolis, as performing these actions will increase his bond.
• Complete all quests in Treviso and all quests for the Antivan Crows.
• Complete Lucanis' companion quests (must be done to progress his romance).
• Choose to aid Treviso over Minrathous (again, something you must do if you wish to romance him).
• Complete the Coffee With The Crows quest after recruiting Lucanis. (Once you've recruited him, speak to him in the lighthouse to get this quest.)
• Give him a gift. Lucanis' gift is the Antivan Tea Set, which can be bought from a Treviso vendor. The vendor's location will be indicated with a quest marker during the Coffee With The Crows quest. The Antivan Tea Set can be purchased at any time, but Coffee With The Crows makes the vendor easier to find, and allows you to kill two crows with one stone, so to speak.
• Once you've finished your shopping, meet up with Illario at the cafe for a conversation during which you'll be presented with a variety of dialogue options. Choosing "Like a kiss goodbye, huh?" when prompted counts as flirting.
• Compliment him when the opportunity presents itself.
• Return to the Lighthouse after Coffee With The Crows and speak to Lucanis, who will give you a new side quest called Bidding Farewell. When prompted, say, "I'm a Crow. I'll help," if your character is a part of the Antivan Crows faction. Later, say, "I'll help however I can." Both lines each provide an approval boost.
• At some point during a conversation with Lucanis at the Lighthouse, you'll discover that his deepest, darkest secret has not only bubbled to the surface, but taken control of Lucanis himself. Say, "Spite, enough," when prompted for an approval boost.
• During the Siege Of Weisshaupt questline, punch the First Warden in the face when the opportunity arises. Lucanis will "greatly approve" of this choice.
• After Weisshaupt, you'll find Lucanis brooding at the Lighthouse. Speak to him, and select "I'm glad you made it back," which counts as flirting.
• In another post-Weisshaupt scene at the Lighthouse involving Neve and Lucanis, say "The coffee is questionable," for an approval boost.
• Lucanis will eventually need to speak to you at the Lighthouse again, which will start the Bloodbath questline. When speaking to Illario during this quest, say "Lucanis said no," for some approval. Later, say, "It's over, Zara," for more approval. Afterwards, select "It doesn't change how I feel," when speaking to Lucanis, which counts as flirting.
• During yet another Lighthouse cutscene regarding Lucanis and coffee--this time involving Harding--select "First time for everything," for increased approval.
• When Emmrich is helping Lucanis interrogate a fallen foe at the Lighthouse, select "I'm sorry," for more approval.
• Speak to Lucanis at the Lighthouse to obtain the Inner Demons quest. When speaking to Teia, select "You think it's a message," for approval.

Commitment

Lucanis takes time to truly warm up to Rook.

The opportunity to commit to Lucanis doesn't present itself until fairly late in the game. Here are the dialogue choices you'll want to make to lock Lucanis in as a romance option:

• Eventually, Lucanis' dark secret will make another appearance at the Lighthouse. When speaking to Lucanis after the fact, he'll mention he didn't want you to see something. Select "I don't mind," to express romantic interest in Lucanis. This will not fully commit you to him, and you may continue to flirt with other companions and progress their romances if you wish. Do not select "I'm sorry," as it will permanently cut off all romance options. Later, select "I like messes," to further express your interest. Do not select "Maybe you're right," as that will also cut off the romance immediately.
• When speaking to Lucanis near the end of Inner Demons, you'll be asked what you're doing there. Tell Lucanis, "I was looking for you," which counts as flirting. Once you're speaking to the other Crows again, select "We're both fine," which also counts as flirting.
• After Inner Demons, speak to Lucanis and select "You're sweet, you know." This counts as flirtation, but much more importantly, this line commits you to an exclusive romance with Lucanis.

Hero Of The Veilguard

If you're looking for extra damage output, Demon Of Defiance is the best choice for Lucanis' special ability.

At this point, Lucanis' character page should display an affection score of 9 or higher, and his title will change to "Personal Demon" with two heart icons next to it. But if you find you're still short on approval and haven't reached an affection score of 10, you'll have a chance to boost your score during one of Lucanis' final questlines, Murder Of Crows. Complete the quest for a massive approval boost. Lucanis will eventually ask, "What am I supposed to do with this idiot?"

You can choose to have Lucanis either forgive or imprison the idiot in question, and while neither option affects approval, they do affect what sort of reward Lucanis will get for completing the quest.

Forgiving the aforementioned idiot will allow Lucanis to unlock Demon Of Rebellion as his Hero Of The Veilguard ability, which increases the player's resistance by 10%, and increases the entire party's Barrier damage by 25%. Forgiveness also earns Lucanis the Crow's Poise Legendary Armor set, which has the following perks:

• Detonating an Overwhelmed enemy Detonates another nearby Overwhelmed enemy (this ability has a 30-second cooldown).
• Enemies near the second Detonation become Vulnerable to Necrotic damage.

Choosing to instead imprison the idiot unlocks Demon Of Defiance as Lucanis' Hero Of The Veilguard ability. Demon Of Defiance increases Lucanis' Critical damage and Detonation by 50% each, and his abilities now deal 25% more damage to any enemies currently dealing with an Affliction. Imprisonment also earns Lucanis the Crow's Tenacity Legendary Armor, which features these perks:

• Detonations vs. knocked down enemies also deal Stagger to all enemies
• Stagger from Detonating an enemy is increased by 50% for each enemy hit

We recommend imprisonment, as the idiot in question here very much deserves it, and the rewards you earn for doing so result in greatly increased damage output from Lucanis.

Note: You must complete all Treviso/Antivan Crows faction quests before Lucanis' Hero Of The Veilguard ability is available to use.

For more information on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, check out our review. If you're looking for assistance earning the affection of The Veilguard's other members or any other aspect of the game, see our Veilguard romance guide hub.

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