# Compare the Soft Reference and Hard Reference in the operation

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/compare-the-soft-reference-and-hard-reference-in-the-operation/666039>\
**Category:** Blueprint\
**Tags:** unreal-engine, UE5-0, question, Blueprint\
**Created:** [October 10, 2022, 5:21am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/compare-the-soft-reference-and-hard-reference-in-the-operation/666039 "2022-10-10T05:21:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_a24031da](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_a24031da](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_a24031da)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 5:21am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/compare-the-soft-reference-and-hard-reference-in-the-operation/666039/1 "2022-10-10T05:21:35Z")

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Hi guys，  
I have questions about **soft reference** , and I want to get your help. I now know that compared with the **hard reference** , soft variables are not always stored in memory. But I don’t find any difference between **soft reference** and **hard reference** in practicing. Just replace the original **hard reference** with a **soft reference** and add a **resolve node** is enough?  
I want to know whether the places where I used **hard reference** can just be replaced with **soft reference**. Or **soft reference** can only be used under specific circumstances. It would be best if anyone could give a specific case to compare **hard reference** with **soft reference**.  
I have read the guide written by Morva Kristóf, but I completely lost it. (In his BP\_weapon and BP\_Sword case, it seems that he just replaced **hard reference** node with **soft reference** node and added a **resolve node** that’s all)[https://medium.com/advanced-blueprint-scripting-in-unreal-engine/object-references-in-blueprints-4c0df7f4dc1d](https://medium.com/advanced-blueprint-scripting-in-unreal-engine/object-references-in-blueprints-4c0df7f4dc1d)

Thanks

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**Author:** ![Squize](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/squize/32/573942_2.png) [@Squize](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Squize)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 5:53am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/compare-the-soft-reference-and-hard-reference-in-the-operation/666039/2 "2022-10-10T05:53:41Z")

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Resolve only works if the actor is already loaded in memory. If it’s not, then you’d need to explicitly load it before you could use it.

The topic in general has been up a few times, hopefully the links in this thread will be usefull 🙂

> [@Can someone explain soft variable references?](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/can-someone-explain-soft-variable-references/444524/8):
>
> Thanks alot for sharing the links, I’ve already watched the stream but the article is far more interesting and clear wink