Romancing Neve in Dragon Age: The Veilguard might not seem like your idea of a good time—this magical private investigator is a bit of a straight-talker, and her dialogue can occasionally lean a little on the cringe side. Still, if you soften her cold heart, it’s a nice intimate series of quests and scenes that sees you convincing her not everything is doom and gloom.

Seeing the seedy underbelly of Dock Town has convinced Neve that there’s no such thing as a happy ending, so it takes a little work on your part to show her things can be different. Here’s how to romance Neve in The Veilguard, plus some key scenes and moments to watch out for if you want to end up with the Minrathous mage.

How to romance Neve

Here’s the brief rundown of how to romance Neve:

• Complete Neve’s companion quests, namely: A Study of Docktown, The Cobbled Swan Case, Chasing Leads, Clear Mind, Keep A Light On, and The Returned Cultist Case (plus whatever final quest you get depending on the path you choose for her)
• Choose the dialogue options marked with the love heart in the top left whenever possible. Otherwise, Neve often favours the stoic dialogue options at the bottom right
• From the Veilguard companion gifts, pick up Neve’s’ Collected Evidence gift and give it to her
• Just in case, you should save Minrathous, when given the choice to save Minrathous or Treviso. I’ve not verified yet whether this choice has the same effect on her romance as the one with Lucanis, but to avoid doubt, take her side, especially as otherwise she’ll become “Hardened” which makes it harder to gain approval

It’s worth noting that some of Neve’s companion quests are just conversations and you likely don’t need to complete them all to successfully romance her. You’ll get to commit to an exclusive romance with her during the Clear Mind quest, but presumably you’ll want to finish her other quests after this, since they conclude her story.

Neve Romance scenes

If you’re trying to woo Neve you should visit her in her study whenever the exclamation mark or dialogue box appear and just generally choose the romantic dialogue options in the top left whenever they are available. In terms of significant romance scenes, though, there are a few which you probably won’t want to miss:

Scene: Feeding Assan

The first significant romance scene is after you complete Lucanis’ Bloodbath quest. You should get this if you’ve completed Neve’s A Study of Docktown and The Cobbled Swan Case, plus gained her approval.

You find Neve in the courtyard outside Davrin’s room where she’s talking to Assan about sneaking the cheeky Griffon some food. You can flirt with her a bit saying “You’re cute with him”, and when she walks off briefly you can choose:

• “Between us, I like Neve”

This confides your feelings to the Griffon before Neve gets back.

Express interest in a romance with Neve

The next most significant romance scene is after the Legacies and Legends and For the Love of Treviso quests. When you visit Neve in her study, she’ll be trapping wisps, and during this encounter, as Neve is explaining her uncertainty, you’ll get the choice to either cut all romantic ties, or explore the possibility of a romantic relationship. In order to keep this opportunity open, you should choose:

• “I like surprising you”

After this you almost get a sneaky kiss before a pesky wisp interrupts.

Commit to a romance with Neve

After you complete Neve’s third companion quest, Chasing Leads, which is basically just a meeting with the Threads, you can head back to the Lighthouse and get the Clear Mind quest; this is essentially a date with Neve. You’ll get to skip stones across the water in Dock Town and then either break things off or commit to an exclusive relationship. To continue romancing Neve, pick:

• “I’m here. No matter what”

You’ll share a quick kiss and then spook a poor cat while getting carried away and bumping into some crates. Neve, however, will suddenly have a realisation about her case, and continuing to follow this quest line will lead to the end of her story, hunting down a dangerous Venatori mage called Aelia in the Returned Cultist Case.

Shadowy protector or hopeful figure?

During the Returned Cultist Case quest, you’ll ultimately get to decide Neve’s future before she becomes a so-called “Hero of the Veilguard”—essentially what characters get called when you complete their quests. Neve can either continue to be a shadowy protector of Dock Town or a hopeful figure for the people living there. When I chose the latter, I got The Local Hero epilogue quest for her, where she sets up her own detective agency with Rana.

The final night

Towards the end of the game in chapter thirteen, you’ll return to the Lighthouse during the final sequence of quests. After talking to all of your companions, you can enter your bedroom upstairs to find Neve and finally get your steamy romance scene together. Similar to Mass Effect’s romance scenes, this one is literally in the middle of the final quest, so make sure you finish up all the other steps first.