For Nexus and Battle at least, shifting the veil is a moral obligation, but most of the time most of the characters in the game can effectively ignore it.

One of my throwaway villagers got titled “Veil Tender” and here’s what I’ve figured out. It’s difficult to know for sure, but it seems like the who list is the most important factor in what the veil’s current baseline is. High level Battle makes a big difference as did high level Nexus. High level magi affect it as well, but who knows how? It seemed that a shifter Nightreaver had less effect than a Rhyme who was a warrior. With no nexus it is likely that the veil now tends toward thickness.

I suspect in a vacuum that giving items would last for a decent amount of time, but in reality the constantly changing variety of heroes makes it tough to keep it super thick or super thin for very long. The exception might be a bunch of hero villagers logging on, intentionally thickening the veil, then rampaging. That’s when potions start failing across Thera. It becomes a perceptible advantage at times like this.

At least some Battle powers don’t work as well with a thin veil, so there’s that, too. Plus you can start gathering veil shifting items at around level 25 so there should be no excuse to not do it if you’ve got nothing to do.

Also remember that the quickest way to thin the veil is to kill a bunch of hero villagers. Also, also this thread makes me think about how the one time I held Strange Bracers I beelined to Tahren with them.