Romance (Dragon Age II)

In Dragon Age II, Hawke can pursue a romance with five companions: Isabela, a rogue pirate captain; Merrill, a young Dalish elf; Anders, an apostate mage who was formerly a Grey Warden; Fenris, an elf and former Tevinter slave; and Sebastian, a DLC companion. All love interests, except Sebastian, may be romanced by either gender. No other companions can be romanced.
It is possible to sleep with all romantic companions, except Sebastian, in a single game. Sleeping with any of the companions does not prevent the development of other romances. However asking either Anders or Merrill to move in after sleeping with them will deactivate the romance flags of all other characters, and remove critical flirt lines from their dialogue. Alternatively, if at the end of the cut scene where you sleep with either Anders or Merrill, you choose the breaking heart option to indicate that it was merely a one-night stand, you may continue with other romances. The companion you want to stay with in Act 3 must be the last one you have slept with in Act 2. As Sebastian's romance has the prerequisite of never initiating a flirt option with any companion or NPC, he can never be simultaneously romanced.
== Romantic interests ==
Male and female Hawke 	Male and female Hawke 	Male and female Hawke	Male and female Hawke
Anders 	Fenris 	 	
A deserter Grey Warden mage.	A fugitive Tevinter slave.	 	
Isabela 	Merrill 	 	
A former pirate captain. 	A Dalish blood mage. 	 	
Female Hawke only
Sebastian Vael (DLC)
A Chantry brother and archer of royal birth.
== Other encounters ==
Hawke can have brief romantic encounters with a few other characters: 
* Prostitutes at The Blooming Rose
* Jethann (male elf during The First Sacrifice at The Blooming Rose)
* Zevran Arainai (During A Murder of Crows; it is also possible to engage in a threesome with Zevran and Isabela)
== Romance mechanics ==
Friendship or rivalry does not affect romance availability, only the context of the relationship. While most Flirts initially produce friendship points, advancing the companion to rivalry will at least prevent those friendship points if not provide rivalry instead. You will need at least 50% friendship or rivalry to unlock the necessary Questioning Beliefs quests for three of the four options, however.
Some companions may pursue relationships with each other if not actively romanced by Hawke; if Hawke does not romance both Isabela and Fenris, or if their romance has already ended, they start a relationship with each other in Act 3.
After a romance is consummated, Isabela, Merrill and Fenris will receive a new outfit. The change is purely cosmetic. Isabela's and Fenris's outfits will change even if you break up with them immediately after sex, and they will not revert to their original outfits even if you romance someone else later (you may have to add Isabela to the party and travel with her for the change to take effect). Merrill's outfit will only change if she moves in.
=== Pursuing multiple romances === 
Advancing one romance does not necessarily end the others, at least until a certain point. As a result, you may end up continuing to get Flirt options with companions but cannot continue it any further. Specific prompts are required but may be unavailable due to the interference of a more progressed romance. Ending the interfering romance, if it is even possible, should restore the necessary prompts to carry romance further with someone else, if the conversation has not already come and gone. Essentially, the order goes: Flirt and/or Essential Flirt -> “Queue” for romance scene -> Romance scene -> Move-in (Anders or Merrill). Only a Move-in permanently disables the rest of the Queue or Essential Flirts. Non-essential flirts can still be taken, but they will not result in romance.
=== Romance scenes ===
After fulfilling the required dialogue prompts and completing the required quests, companions' romance scenes will "queue," or become available the next time Hawke returns to their estate. Multiple companions can be "queued" at once and then bedded in a single playthrough, but due to how the triggers work they can only be presented in a specific order:
==== Fenris ====
Fenris's romance cutscene queues at the conclusion of A Bitter Pill and after choosing the second 'Flirt' option ("Just friends?") during his Questioning Beliefs quest (which is available before A Bitter Pill), which is in turn only available if at least one Flirt option, including the first one in this very conversation, was taken. Note that if any other romance is "queued" when you talk to Fenris, this essential Flirt option will not be available until after you've explicitly broken up with them (including Isabela. ). Having this conversation before doing so keeps the option unavailable, effectively resulting in the Fenris romance being ended prematurely. Thus, he must come first in the queue or not at all.
==== Isabela ====
Isabela's romance cutscene queues after choosing the Flirt option (“I’ll do it for a kiss”) in Isabela's Ongoing Search. This is the essential Flirt prompt, as it is no longer available after Anders or Merrill has moved in and no other Flirt option seems to send her to the estate, but it is still available even after Fenris is slept with. Picking this option moves her to the front of the line, or right behind Fenris, even if others were queued before her. If Fenris or Anders are queued and she is spoken to before returning home (as indicated by the presence of a "Bad Poet" NPC dressed in purple), this will trigger her "breakup" dialogue, in which she mentions the queued companion, even if that relationship has yet to be consummated. This dialogue doesn’t explicitly end the romance with Isabela but does indicate that a romance with her will go no further than sex. This allows the player to sleep with Isabela even after this "breakup" dialogue and even after bedding Fenris, then deal with the queued romance(s) as they see fit. Her dialogue favors Fenris with both of the men queued at the same time, and she makes no mention of Merrill until after she has moved in, thus the dialogue does signal the end of the romance.
==== Anders ====
Anders's romance cutscene queues only if he kisses you at the end of his Questioning Beliefs quest. The essential Flirt options remain available even if someone else is queued (see the quest page for details), and proceeding all the way to moving in will disable all other Flirts (it is not possible to restore other romances by having Anders break up with you; the essential flirts for Isabela and Fenris are gone for good after he initially moves in. See Anders in the Fade for details’’). He will always come after Fenris and Isabela in the queue but before Merrill, so it is particularly important in her case. Note that he will reference either of the two possible encounters before him. If both were bedded he refers to Fenris, but the Flirt option presented here will reference “her,” meaning Isabela, and the Breakup and bottom-right options refer to Fenris. The Lie option gives a non-specific “It never happened.”
==== Merrill ====
Merrill's romance cutscene doesn’t queue until after her Questioning Beliefs quest. The Flirt option indicates that she is available, but she will be considered queued so long as any Flirt option was taken beforehand, not necessarily this one. Note that Merrill is always last in the queue, so Anders must be outright dumped before she will visit. Isabela's "breakup" dialogue does not trigger with her as the subject unless Merrill has moved in. Once Merrill moves in, all other romances are disabled, and any Flirt options not yet taken will have no effect.
== Flirting with other companions ==
=== Aveline ===
There are flirtation points for Aveline, but a relationship can not be pursued. Taking the 'Flirt' option on the Wounded Coast, followed by the one made available in the Viscount's Keep as a result of that option, allows her to kiss Hawke on the cheek in thanks for setting her up with Donnic, rather than the more simple "Thank you."
=== Varric ===
There is a flirtation dialogue choice for Varric during Varric's Apology quest. However, a relationship cannot be pursued.
=== Tallis ===
While the player does have the option to flirt with Tallis (and receive a kiss, depending on the player's choices during the DLC), it will have no effect on any romance they currently have with another character (though if present, all except Sebastian express jealousy). Tallis will simply leave by the end of the quest.
== Character reactions ==
=== Leandra ===
Leandra reacts to your romance, making a brief mention of them with a warm smile, when she says she's been thinking about remarrying. Note that she'll mention a "queued" romance if a different cutscene (like Fenris’s or Isabela’s romance scene) forces you into the mansion, treating it as though it has been consummated without actually having to consummate or break it off. Her comments are:
*Fenris/Merrill: "I've seen how you and that elf look at each other."
*Isabela: "I've heard that pirate girl of yours talk."
*Anders: "I've seen how that Anders fellow looks at you."
*Additionally, her comment refers to Anders if he and any other companion are queued simultaneously, even if all four are queued at once and some of them have been bedded. Without him, her comment follows the queue order. Merrill is the only exception to any of this; should you use Fenris or Isabela’s queued scene to force your way into the mansion ahead of Merrill’s, then reject them and empty the queue save for Merrill, Leandra mentions no one, therefore Merrill must move in for Leandra to reference her. A Fenris + Isabela queue depends on whether Fenris was bedded or rejected; if bedded, Leandra mentions Fenris, and if rejected, she will mention Isabela, even if her scene has yet to play. Bedding both of them results in her mentioning Isabela. Beyond this, Leandra has no further comment on your romantic choice.
=== Gamlen ===
Gamlen reacts to Hawke's romance if visited in his house in Act 3.
*(If male Hawke is romancing Fenris) "So, you're into elves, huh? I guess I don't have to ask which one of you's the girl."
* (If female Hawke is romancing Fenris) "So, you're into elves, huh? Takes all kinds, I guess."
* (If male Hawke is romancing Anders) "I hear you moved that apostate boy into your house. I guess I don't have to ask which one of you's the girl."
* (If female Hawke is romancing Anders) "I hear you moved that apostate boy into your house. You really are your mother's daughter."
* (If male Hawke is romancing Isabela) "So I hear you've been slipping it to that pirate slut from the Hanged Man. The bitch turned me down flat."
* (If female Hawke is romancing Isabela) "So, I hear that you’ve been slipping it to that pirate slut from the Hanged Man. What’s that like? Two women? I’ve always wondered… "
* (If Hawke is romancing Merrill) "So, I hear you've been playing house with that elf wench. Those Dalish don't really wear clothes, right? Nice!"
== Notes ==
* Sebastian will never sleep with the player. His is a chaste romance.
* Just flirting with a character will unlock the Flirtatious achievement/trophy, but the Romantic achievement/trophy won't unlock until just before the final battle in Act 3.
Category:Dragon Age II gameplay
Category:Romance
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