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Rogues
If you don't have a rogue in your party, you will miss a lot of treasure due to your inability to pick locks. It's not strictly necessary, but it's something to consider when building your party.
Statistical Advantages
Certain stats benefit certain characters. For a tank, focus on strength and constitution. Mages will want magic, willpower and cunning. Anyone who uses archery or dual wields will love dexterity, and that goes double for Rogues. Many weapons require a certain stat to be able to wield properly, so make sure to take note of that and distribute your numbers accordingly. The characters who join your party all have certain specializations built in. Sten and Oghren are two-handed damage dealers, while Alistair is naturally a tank. Morrigan is a damage dealing mage, while Wynne heals. It's possible to shift their specializations somewhat and follow other skill trees, but you may find yourself with a weak, watered-down character.
Plan Ahead
Develop a plan for your character and stick with it. Review each skill tree, and jot down the ones that fit the best with your particularl strategy for that character. For instance, tanks will taunt, while mages will want spells that restore mana or unleash healing for the entire party. If you're aware of these abilities, you are less apt to make poor choices when building up. Dragon Age features a ton of different options, but it's also a game where a few simple strategies will save you a ton of grief. These tips and strategies will serve you well in every battle you will fight, from fighting the lowliest Genlock, to the final rumble with the Archdemon himself.
Balanced Party
Try to build a balanced party. Three warriors with the same abilities don't really complement each other and will have a tough time in battle. Ideally, every tank will have a healing mage, two damage dealers (DPS, or damage per second) and a tank to keep the bad guys busy while everyone else attacks.
Persuasion
Persuasion is incredibly useful. With a high enough cunning stat, and enough talent points in Coercion, you can avoid many fights and help yourself out a great deal. As an early example, enough cunning and persuasion will actually convince the brigands in Lothering to pay you, rather than the other other way around.
Collect Recipes
Try to get recipes for things like lyium and health poultices early. You can find the lyrium recipe in the mage tower, and all the flasks you need from your camp vendor. Simply purchasing the curatives you need will get expensive fast.
Battle Strategies
If an enemy's name is white, they are weak and susceptible to things like being frozen and shattered. If their name is yellow, they are a ranked leader, and much more resistant to various spells and abilities. Alphas are the strongest of the darkspawn mooks, and should be focused upon last. As a general rule, target the guys with the white names first. Exceptions to the "target the weaker guys first" rule: Golems, Drakes, Dragons and Ogres are insanely dangerous, and will decimate your party if left alone. If you can't freeze them or keep them occupied with a tank, then focus fire on them to get them out of the way.
When fighting a horde, learn to lock down the strongest enemy characters. There are a variety of ways to do that -- Abilities Pommel Strike, Riposte and Dirty Fighting and spells like Winter's Grasp, Cone of Cold and Force Field all work very well. Without a powerful Alpha (or even a boss) in your hair, you're free to take down the lesser bad guys.
Quest Order
In general, you're free to do the main quests in which you recruit the armies in any order you'd like. However, leave Orzammar for last or second to last. It's not only incredibly long, it features two of the toughest boss battles in the game. In fact, the final boss battle in Orzammar is even tougher than the final battle with the Archdemon, even with good spells and abilities to back you up.
Walkthrough
Part One: Ostagar
No matter which origin you choose, you will eventually end up in Ostagar. Here you will undergo your basic Grey Warden initiation while meeting Alistair, a former Templar. After your first mission and initiation, the invasion truly begins.
Ostagar
Your first order of business will be to meet with King Cailan and Duncan. There you will learn of their basic plan of attack against the Darkspawn. Afterward, you are free to spend some time walking around the camp. A soldier will give you some basic directions and then it's off on your own. Go find Alistair, who is busy arguing with a mage. Alistair will be the first character to join your party and makes for a very good tank no matter which class you choose. If you plan to keep him in your party, his points are best invested in the shield and sword skills. When you're ready, go back to Duncan, who is standing near the temple in the upper left-hand corner of the map. He will assign you to find three vials of Darkspawn blood, which will be used in your initiation. Alistair and a couple other initiates will give you a hand.
Korcari Wilds
Set off into the wilds, where you will encounter several batches of wolves in addition to Darkspawn like Hurlocks and Genlocks. Among the tougher enemies are a Hurlock Alpha and a Hurlock Emissary, the latter of which likes to cast irritating magic. However, they will pose little obstacle when it comes to collecting the vials of blood. With the Darkspawn dealt with and the vials of blood obtained, continue on down the path to find the Grey Warden cache. There you will encounter Morrigan for the first time, who will take you to meet her mother Flemeth who has what you need. Be polite to her and she'll eventually give you the scrolls.
The Initiation
When you get back to the camp, find Duncan where you left him and give him the blood vials and scrolls. He will commence the initiation, which will unfortunately claim two of your companions. When the scene is finished, it will almost be time to commence the battle with the Darkspawn. As a newly initiated Grey Warden, you are given a special task - Head to the Tower of Ishal and light the fire, which will serve as the signal for the king's reinforcements to strike from behind and destroy the Darkspawn. When you are ready the battle will commence. With the battle raging all around you, make your away across the bridge and toward the tower. When you arrive, you will learn that it has been occupied by monsters, and that you will have to fight your way to the top. First though, you need to get past a few Darkspawn mobs, including a Hurlock Alpha. If you are a Human Noble or you have completed the Mabari Hound side quest, you should have a full complement now with the addition of a helpful mage. Battle your way through the Darkspawn and into the tower.
The Invasion
When you enter the tower, the first thing you will see are several fiery barriers, with several Genlocks waiting for you in the middle of the room. There is a tripwire trap waiting for you when you try to pass through the only entrance to the room and that will activate a Grease trap. Move quickly into the center area or the Genlock Emissary waiting for you inside will cast Fireball and barbecue your party. Once the battle really begins, prioritize the Emissary or he will likely give you trouble. With the mobs in the central area dealt with, start working your way around the outside ring to get to the stairs, which will be right behind the ladder that you see in the main area. Stay on your guard, because Hurlocks and Genlocks will often be waiting for you behind closed doors. Unless you're really hurt though it's in your best interest to open them, since the Hurlocks and Genlocks will yield valuable experience. After each battle, take care to wait a moment and allow your party's health, mana, and stamina to recharge. Don't blunder into another battle if your characters are still hurting.
It's pretty much the same deal on the second floor, where you'll find a whole mess of Hurlocks and Genlocks waiting to ambush you if you're not careful. The mobs reside in separate rooms, with the other mob running in to join the fight when you try to attack the other. Your best bet is to go into the door on the right and try to take down as many Genlocks as you can while taking care that the Hurlocks don't flank you. Your mage's Fire spells will help a lot, just take care that your allies aren't caught in the crossfire. The third floor is the final floor before the boss. There are plenty of Darkspawn to fight, as usual, including a ranked Genlock Alpha. However, if you look carefully, you'll find a switch on the floor of the north side of the room -- that will open the various dog cages. The dogs will give you a hand against the Darkspawn and continue to follow you if they survive. When you reach the stairs, get ready because you're about to fight your first major boss.
Flemeth's Hut
When you awaken, you'll find yourself back at Flemeth's Hut, which you last saw when you were collecting some lost documents ahead of your initiation. Flemeth is waiting for you and she'll give you an idea of the overarching quest that awaits you. With the Darkspawn now running wild, it's up to you to raise an army to combat them. That means visiting the leaders of the mages, Humans, Elves and Dwarves and commanding them to service. As a going away present, Flemeth will send along her adopted daughter Morrigan, a shapeshifting mage. She is a highly useful character and you'll want to keep her in your party, even if you chose to be a mage. She not only has excellent offensive and defensive magic, she can turn into a vicious spider and dish out some heavy damage in the absence of a more standard tank. Besides, she's funny, and makes for an entertaining foil over the course of your adventures.
Lothering
Before beginning your quest to build an army, you'll need to make a pit stop at Lothering to gather supplies and catch up on what's been happening. Unfortunately, the road into Lothering isn't entirely clear. Some bandits will be waiting for you on the bridge into the village. You can either pay them 10 silver to pass, try and intimidate them, or fight them (this option is the best, since it offers loot and experience). When the bandit leader is sufficiently hurt, he will beg for mercy. You can extract some money from him, kill him, or let him go. If you decide to kill him, he'll say that he's not going down without a fight and you'll have to fight a little longer. Thankfully, it's an easy battle. When you're finished, check the fallen knight for an item that will help fulfill a side quest. For such a small village, there's actually quite a bit to do in Lothering and it makes for an excellent opportunity to get a foothold to start building up your characters. This guide will mostly cover the main storyline, but if you check out the Chantry Board in each town, you'll find a number of side quests. In Lothering, there's a call to take out several groups of bandits lurking around the city limits, so you should take the opportunity to get the money and experience. When you're finished, talk to Chanter Devons to get your reward.
Continuing along the main quest line, head into the Chantry first to meet Ser Donall. Speak with him to fulfill the "Fallen Templar" side quest and to learn about Arl Eamon's illness. If you ask for a reward, he'll give you one piece of gold. Next, go to Dane's Refuge, where you'll meet some soldiers who want to give you a rough time for being a Grey Warden.
Leliana
At the Dane Refuge, you will encounter some of Loghain's soldiers, who will promptly attack. The Rogue, Leliana will come to your aid, so use her Dirty Fighting technique to keep them off balance. When the soldiers go down, the commander will beg for mercy. Release him and Leliana will offer to join your party. There's no harm in taking her with you, not the least because she can pick locks. Her bardic talents also make her interesting, particularly the Bard's Captivating Song, which can lock down several attackers at once. If you let her join your party, arm her with dual daggers. Inside Dane's Refuge, you can pick up a couple side quests, so make sure to ask around if you're interested.
Sten
One last point of interest is the caged Qunari Sten. If you free Sten, he will be amiable to joining your party, but you'll need to get the Reverend Mother's permission (or you can just lock-pick the cage, if you have a character with high enough skill). With Leliana in your party, the Reverend Mother will automatically agree to release him. Otherwise, she will be agreeable depending on how large a donation you offer to the Chantry. Sten can easily replace Alistair on your team, and is best with two-handed weapons, so take care to raise those skills. When you have finished with Lothering, head to the northwest corner of the map to find a road out of the area. Some Darkspawn will be attacking a Dwarven merchant and his child -- you'll have to drive them off. Take down the Darkspawn and the merchant will follow your party from that point forward, setting up shop in your camp. Head out of town, and move onto toward the Lake Calenhad Docks to begin the "Broken Circle" quest.
will pose some problems though. Pick off the abominations that are helping him, then get your main damage dealer to take him down. Wynne's group heal will help a lot here. When you're finished, head upstairs. The second floor is set up in much the same fashion as the first, but adds Shambling Corpses and Blood Mages to the mix. The former aren't too bad, but the latter will harass you with ranged magic. If you see any mages, you might want to use your primary damage dealer to take them down while your tank holds everyone else. Early on, you'll encounter Owain, whom you might remember if you chose the mage origin. Owain is hiding out in the stockroom and is waiting for the demonic invasion to subside. Loot the stockroom to find the Black Grimoire -- a key item for Morrigan's personal side quest (update: this was found in Irvings Chest in the First Enchanter's Room on Senior Mage's Quarters Level) -- then continue onward. Not far behind Owain's room you'll find that some Blood Mages have constructed a barrier to block your way. You'll have to fight them to get past. When the fight finishes, one of the Blood Mages begs for her life. You can either let her go, or kill her. The former choice will put you on the path toward the mage army, while the latter will put you on the path of the Templars. You can make it to the next stairway fairly quickly if you ignore the outer arc. Most of the rooms have Shambling Corpses, though they include some decent treasure as well. In particular, the Small Painted Box can be traded in later in the game for a substantial sum of money. You'll also have another chance to show your preference for mages or Templars when you find a mage hiding in a closet. As before, it's up to you to decide whether you want to kill him or let him be. The third floor doesn't have much in the way of treasure, but it does have a ton of nasty enemies. To the ranks of abominations and corpses is added Possessed Templars, Charmed Templars and a Desire Demon. The Templars hit hard, so if you have to choose, go for them over the abominations and other lesser creatures. You'll be in for a tough battle early in the area. Stepping into the second room, things will seem fine at first. But once you cross the midpoint, tons of corpses will reanimate and attack. It's extremely easy to get overwhelmed and killed here, so back off and try and draw some of the corpses with you. When the Arcane Horror shows up, hit it with everything you've got. His spells are brutal. As you continue around the arc, you'll encounter more rooms filled with foes. When you reach the Templar room, watch out for a bear trap that can catch and hamper you. A skilled rogue can detect and disarm it. Watch out for the Desire Demon as well, which can pack quite a punch. To get to the fourth floor, you'll have to plow through a large number of abominations, skeletons and lesser shades. The shades can be beaten with magic, so let your mage handle them. The skeletons are another a nuisance that can be quickly and easily defeated, so let your damage dealer take them out before dealing with the abominations. Now you're ready to go to the next part of the quest. There are two optional battles on the fourth floor, both of which yield some decent loot. However, be aware that they are quite tough, and you may find yourself being quickly overwhelmed. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you rest up first. You will see two rooms to your left as you enter the floor. The first contains a Desire Demon and a Templar, the latter of which is under a spell. Breaking the dream will prompt the Templar and the demon to attack along with a couple corpses, and it's quite easy to be overwhelmed. Take out the Templar first, since he can deal some nasty damage, and do what you can to slow down the demon. When the Templar goes down, shift your efforts to taking her down. The next room contains a Blood Mage and some more Templars. Get the mage first, since he's capable of making some serious trouble with his Fire spells, and have your tank handle the Templars. The mage should go down quickly, after which you can focus entirely on the Templars. In the center chamber is the Sloth Demon, which will send you plunging into the fade. You will have to escape if you want to have a chance of ending the demonic infestation once and for all.
The Fade
You're now trapped in the Fade. To escape, you'll have to conquer the demons inhabiting each of the islands, and eventually take out the Sloth Demon himself. Unfortunately, the way is blocked by all manner of obstacles, and you'll have to find a way to take on four different forms to conquer them. Edited: There are Lyrium veins scattered throughout this entire fade area, which can be used to restore health and mana. But if you are using a dwarf as PC, you will not be able to use these lyrium vein.
When you begin, you'll find yourself in a Grey Warden fortress where you'll have to fight Duncan and two other Grey Wardens to continue. Duncan hits harder, so focus on him first. The other two wardens should go down in fairly short order. When they're defeated, go to the Fade Pedestal to continue. When you arrive, you'll encounter Niall, who is also trapped in the Fade. He's feeling pretty down about your chances of escaping, so it's up to you to show him how it's done. Have a quick look around, and you'll find a Fade Portal to the east. Enter it, and you'll find yourself face-to-face with a Rage Demon. When it goes down, talk to the mouse that it was attacking. You'll gain the Mouse form, which will allow you to go down mouse holes. Go down the hole nearby to continue to the next area. When you arrive, you'll encounter a Lesser Rage Demon. Take him out, wait for your health and stamina to regenerate, then continue to the Fade Portal. There will be three more demons as you continue down the L-shaped area. Take them down one by one, and use the Lyrium Vein halfway to the next portal to replenish if necessary. When you're finished, you'll be back at the original area with Niall. He'll suggest that you get more forms, so that's just what you should do. Begin by heading to the Darkspawn Invasion, where you'll get the Spirit form.
Darkspawn Invasion
When you appear, you'll be in a mostly empty room to the south. Head through the mouse hole in the northeast corner and head down to the end of the next passage. Enter another mouse hole to find yourself in a room containing a Permanent Cunning increase. Go back to the main corridor and you'll have a choice - take the mouse hole shortcut to the right for a shortcut or exit via the main door to fight a Genlock Alpha and his lackeys. If you're a warrior, try to draw the lackeys away from the Alpha and get them first. After you've knocked out the Hurlocks and Genlocks beyond, jump down the mouse hole. If you take the shortcut, you'll find yourself next to two Flaming Darkspawn. Take them out, then head to the next room to face a Hurlock Emissary. As always, get the Emissary first, since he's capable of casting some pretty nasty magic. When they go down, you'll find the way ahead blocked by fire, so you'll need to go down another mouse hole. When you pop out of the hole, you'll find a Templar spirit under attack by Darkspawn. Work with him to take out these foes and you'll gain the Spirit form. As a spirit, you can see things that are normally beyond your vision, and you gain a nice resistance to spells. Your most useful ability will be Regeneration, but the Ice spell, Winter's Grasp is also good for taking out enemies at range. Before you leave, use Spirit form to snag the etheral +1 Willpower bonus located in this room. Your next stop is the Burning Tower. As it happens, you'll be encountering quite a lot of enemies who are in fire, so Winter's Grasp will come in handy. When you arrive, change into the Mouse form and head through the hole to west. You'll find another essence of cunning, so upgrade, then change back to your Normal form and open the door out into the corridor. You'll find two doors. One contains a couple Burning Templars, and the second one contains the way forward. Open the second door, then proceed the first door to your left. Defeat the Burning Templars that await using Crushing Prison on one and Winter's Grasp on the other, then continue up the stairs. You'll now find yourself in a maze of fire barriers. Take a left, then go right to find a mouse hole along Burning Hounds and a Burning Templar. Once again, Winter's Grasp and Crushing Prison is good for taking them down. Go down the mouse hole, and you'll encounter a Dreaming Templar and a Burning Demon. Lock onto the Templar with Winter's Grasp and Crushing Prison, and use Regeneration to keep your health up. When they both go down, you'll be granted access to the Burning Man form. The Burning Man form will help you get past those pesky fire barriers. You'll also have access to the Fireball spell, which is great for clearing out crowds ahead of the Golem form and you're immune to fire. Okay, time to get the last form. Use the Pedestal to go to Mage Asunder. (Optional can be done later: return to the Raw Fade, Enter the Spirit Door here in the first area and you'll be transported to Yevena's lair. She's got two shades with her, so use the Spirit Form's Crushing Prison on Yevena and Winter's Grasp on one of the shades, then start hacking away at Yevena. When you can, use Winter's Grasp on her again, then go back to your normal form to finish her off. Once she and the shades are dead, enter Spirit Form to claim the nearby Essence of Willpower. Go back through the Spirit Door now and go east to the Fade Portal. Use it. Become a mouse and use the mouse hole here to travel to the north side of this island. Step through the Fade Portal here, then take on Spirit Form and enter the Spirit Door just to the north. You'll emerge on a new island in the northeast. Kill the Wisp Wraiths here, then claim the Essence of Dexterity. Go back through the Spirit Door now, then take the Fade Portal at the east end of this island to return to the first island. There, use the Fade Pedestal to travel to the Mage Asunder.)
Once at the Mage Asunder take the mouse hole to your left to pick up a Strength +1, then return to the second room and take the other mouse hole. You'll find yourself in the midst of a couple crazy mages, but they won't notice you because you're a mouse. The Burning Man form's Fireball will take them down in a hurry. Do the same to the mages in the next room, then change into Spirit Form to pick up the ethereal Magic +1 bonus located there. Pass through the fire barrier to find some Rage Demons. Luckily, they are no match for you in your Burning Man form -- in fact, they can't even touch you. Take them down, then move toward the next room to find a whole lot of mages. Whatever you do, don't rush in. Instead, torch them with Fireballs from the doorway. Head upstairs when you're finished. On the next floor, you encounter Chantry Priests and Stone Golems. The Golems are particularly dangerous, as they can use Smash to smash you. Thankfully, they're still vulnerable to fireballs, and it's really the only thing that seems to do much damage to them. Target the Chantry Priests with a fireball to take them out, then move quicly around the room to keep out of the way of the Golems. If you need to, switch to Spirit form and cast Regeneration, then switch back. Your reward is the Golem form -- the only form you'll need from now on. The Golem is outrageously good at crowd control, and it will have absolutely no problem taking down the major demons that are guarding the various realms. Quake will handle large groups that surround you, while Hurl will do massive damage to anything it connects with. Use Smash as a last resort to do some good damage and knock your opponent down. You'll be using Golem for the rest of the Fade, so get used to it. Good news -- you've got all four forms! That means you get down to killing all those pesky Great Demons. Since you're already in Mage Asunder, why don't you start there? Smash open the metal door in Golem form and head on through.
Mage Asunder
In the next room, you'll encounter a couple more Golems in addition to some priests. Take your new Golem for a test drive and wipe them out, then proceed into the mazelike area. You'll have to fight some more Golems, but it's worth it -- it's possible to get six different essences. Just head down all the available side passages, and you'll find them. In the last room, you'll encounter Slavren. This will become a familiar refrain after a while -- switch to Golem form and pound the stuffing out of him with a combination of Quake and Hurl, with a few Slams in there for good measure. If you need to heal, retreat and switch to Spirit form before the situation gets dire, and heal up. When Slavren is down, you'll be done with Mage Asunder. Your next stop is Templar's Nightmare.
Templar's Nightmare
This is the only area that doesn't contain a form, so chances are you haven't visited it yet. With all four forms, it should be a cinch to get through. Start by turning into a mouse and head into the house, then change to Golem form and kill the Arcane Horror. With your rock hard skin you'll probably resist the poison trap that's been set, but if not, then just regenerate it away in spirit form. Change back to Mouse form and head through the hole that leads to an ogre. Just as before, the ogre is tough, and he can even go toe-to-toe with your Golem form, so be careful. Keep him off-balance with Slam, then use Hurl to inflict maximum damage. Alternatively, Crushing Prison does well, but the ogre may resist it. When he goes down, switch to Burning Man form and head through the fire barrier. Kill the Rage Abomination, then switch to Spirit form to see the spirit door. You'll be fighting through three more rooms containing a variety of abominations. Switch to Golem form and have at them -they are no match for you. Should you get low on health or mana, there's a Lyrium Vein nearby. When you get to the last room, switch to Burning Man form and head through the Fade Portal. The next room will burst into flame, but you'll be okay in Burning Man form. The Shambling Corpses and other foes that you'll face will actually struggle with the fire, but your fireballs should do the rest. Beware the Arcane Horror -- take it out first, or it may take you down with spells of its own. When the Arcane Horror goes down, switch back to Mouse form and head down the mouse hole to meet the area's demon. You'll meet the Desire Demon Vereveel here. You could actually be forgiven for opting not to use the Golem here, since Vereveel's spells can do some nasty damage. However, the trade off is that you can take her down with Hurl extremely quickly. Burning Man form's Fireball is a good alternative, as is Crushing Prison. Time to go and take out the rest of the demon's guarding the fade. Start by going back to the Darkspawn Invasion, where you'll encounter a whole mess of genlocks and hurlocks when you smash through the previously inaccessible metal door. They're no
match for Golem's earthquake -- let them surround you, then crush them with Quake, or knock them out with rubble from a hurl. The Emissary should be a top priority target here, since his magic will actually do some damage. Uthkiel the Crusher hits even harder than a normal ogre, and you may find that you have trouble staying on your feet. Keep him offguard with a steady diet of Slams, and reserve Hurl for the big damage. When in doubt, Quake will slow him down too. Next up is the Burning Tower. Smash your way through the last two rooms in your Golem form, scattering anything that gets in your way. Rhagos is absolutely no match for your Burning Man form -- he can't even really touch you. Destroy him quickly and move along. Finally, it's back to the Raw Fade. Yevana is waiting for you nearby, and you can reach her using Spirit form. Golem form will smash her into dust like the others. With all of the major demons out of the way, there's one last order of business before you go fight Sloth. Each of your party members are trapped in a nightmare, and those nightmares become accessible as you beat the demons. Enter each one, and speak with your party member. Eventually, you'll get the minor demon that's tormenting them to fight you. Crush the demons with Golem form, and then prepare to fight Sloth.
Being a Blood Mage, everyone will attack you, including Wynne, and you'll have to kill all of them. At that point, you won't have a Templar army or a Mage army, which will likely make you pretty sad when the final battle arrives. Assuming that you decide not to kill everyone, you'll have access to either the mage army or the Templar army at the end of the game. The mages are lousy at melee combat, but have excellent ranged attacks. The Templars are the opposite, and do well against spellcasters. In the end, you're probably better off with the mages since you'll have plenty of melee attackers in the end, but the choice is yours. Now it's on to the village of Redcliffe.
Redcliffe
You arrive just outside of the Redcliffe limits, where you soon bump into Tomas. He'll explain that there's trouble in the village and take you down to the Chantry. Bann Teagan will be waiting for you, and after brief introductions, he'll explain that the village is in grave danger, and that the castle has been locked up while the Arle is sick. It seems that the forces of the undead have taken to attacking the village every night, but nobody is entirely sure why. All they know is that the attacks are getting worse, and they need help to stop it. Naturally, it's up to you and your four-person army to help get them out of this jam. You'll need to start by helping Ser Perth and Murdock prepare the village for battle. Keep in mind that if you leave the village at this point, you're essentially abandoning them to their fate. When you return, the village will be empty. As he's standing right in the middle of the village square, you'll probably run into Murdock first. He'll tell you that the town guard needs weapons, but that Owen the blacksmith is currently refusing to work. Offer to give him a hand, then head across the way to the smith's house. The door will be locked, so you'll have to persuade or intimidate Owen into letting you in. Failing that, you can either pick or smash the lock. Once you're insider, you can gain his help by offering to look for his daughter, which will add the "Lost in the Castle" sidequest. If you're in a bad mood, you can simply kill him, take his key and open up the trapdoor to gain access to his equipment stash. Either that, or simply tell Murdock that the equipment cannot be repaired and that the guards will simply have to fight with the weapons they have. When you're finished convincing Owen (or sending him to an early grave), head on up the hill toward the windmill to see Ser Perth. Take note of the windmill because you'll be back here a litte later. He'll ask you to get Mother Hannah's blessing for the battle, but she'll be reluctant to give it without a decent amount of persuasion. It won't make much difference one way or the other in the battle ahead, so don't worry about it. Keep poking around the village, and you'll find a number of other sidequests that will help you prepare for the zombie assault. When you're ready, confirm with Ser Perth and Murdock that they're ready, and you will shift automatically to night. The battle ahead is actually fairly easy. Your forces will largely outnumber the zombie hordes, which will ensure that they go down in a hurry. If you want to draw more zombies to the slaughter, just head up the hill a bit, and more will appear. Eventually, you'll receive word that some of the undead have managed to break through the lines and attack the town square, so head down as quickly as possible to help. After you've mopped up the last of the zombies, head back to the mill to talk to Bann Teagan. He'll tell you that he plans to enter the castle through the main gates while you take a secret passageway. Once you've finished restocking your supplies, head into the mill and enter the secret passageway.
Along the way, you'll encounter the blood mage Jowan in a cell. You can either kill him, leave him in his cell, set him free or force him to leave the castle. Killing him or forcing him to leave will mean that he can't help you later. However, since you should have completed the Broken Circle quest by now, that won't be an issue. If you haven't completed Broken Circle and you set him free, you'll have no choice but to embrace a substantially less appealing alternative option. The main floor is a bit more convoluted than the basement. When you appear, you'll be in the map's northwest corner, with the goal being to get out to the Courtyard. Battle the various corpses that you encounter, and be sure it pick the locked door on your left down the hallway. You'll pick up a nice variety of treasure there. Remember the Blacksmith's daughter? You can also find her on this floor. She'll in the northwest corner of the map, in a small room near the end of the hall. You'll also be near the cellar, where there's plenty of treasure. When you arrive in the Courtyard, all will seem quiet, which of course means that you're walking into a trap. Sure enough, venturing out into the courtyard will prompt a host of archers to rise up and attack near the door to the castle. The real threat, however, is the Revenant lurking in the far corner, which is quite capable of annihilating your party. If you try to fight them all at once, you'll be swiftly overwhelmed. Instead, hit the Gate Lever to bring in Ser Perth and company. They'll tie up the undead, which will give you a chance to kill the archers and overwhelm the Revenant. Once they're gone, you can reenter the castle through the main door. Be sure to bring Ser Perth with you, since he'll be of assistance in another fight just ahead. You'll arrive to find the Arle's son possessed by a demon, and Bann Teagan under his thrall. After a few choice words, he'll command his soldiers to attack, then flee. Don't hold back -- defeating Teagan will only save him from Connor's mind control. If you opted to allow Jowan to live, he will suggest using a blood ritual to send a mage into the Fade, where they can hunt down and destroy the demon investing Connor. Unfortunately, such a ritual requires a sacrifice, and Isolde is the only viable option. However, sacrificing her will greatly lower Alistair's opinion of you, which will have an impact on the endgame. A better solution is to head to the Circle Tower and pick up a few mages, who will use lyrium to perform the ritual instead. Along the way, you may end up bumping into the Elven rogue Zevran, who will join your party if you defeat him. Jump to the next section if you decide to head back to the Circle Tower or sacrifice Isolde (and remember to get some extra lyrium!). Otherwise, read on.
Hunting Connor
You'll find Connor outside the bedchamber. Speak with him to get the Desire Demon to appear, which cause the battle to commence. When you get her down to about 1/4 health, the demon will vanish and a variety of corpses will animate around you. You'll have to take them out to continue. Later on, the demon will vanish again, and this she'll be replaced by Lesser Rage Demons. As usual, ice spells are extremely effective against them. This is a battle of attrition, so hopefully you're well-prepared. When Connor is defeated, Isolde will run in to plea for his life. You can either knock her out and do the dirty deed yourself, or convince her that her entire family will suffer if he doesn't die. Either way, be prepared for some heavy disapproval from your party.
The final battle will be a bit tougher than the others, but you don't necessarily have to fight her. Instead, you can make a deal for Connor's soul. She'll give you a reward in exchange for the right to return for him at some later date. In the meantime, you'll get the specialization, and the right to continue fighting the Blight. The decision won't have a direct impact on your gameplay experience, but you'll be a bad, bad person nevertheless. In exchange, you can receive the blood mage specialization, an increase in approval with any party member save Oghren, a tome that grants a talent point, or uh... "pleasure." It's up to you. Otherwise, it's a battle to the death, and you'll find that she's much more resilient against your spells this time around. She also has the ability to split into many different copies, and will only return to normal when you choose a form and attack. This fight will be a battle of attrition, so hopefully you've saved some lyrium and poultices for yourself. No matter how you go about it, Redcliffe will eventually be free of the Desire Demon's influence. However, Arl Eamon still needs curing, and that means seeking out the Urn of Sacred Ashes. However, don't forget to give the castle a good lotting before you depart. There are lots of good items, including a special pendant to gift to Alistair. Your next quest awaits!
Denerim
Denerim is the bustling capitol of the human empire, and home to a huge market. As you might expect from such a large location, there's plenty to keep you busy, even if you opt to put your hunt for the Urn on the backburner. Check out the market for a variety of goods, and ask around for sidequests. When you're ready, head to the southeast section of the market district to find Brother Genitivi's home. Unfortunatel, Brother Genitivi is out when you drop by. You are instead greeted by his assistant Weylon, who informs you that the brother has been missing for a while now. Weylon will say that Brother Genitivi was last seen at Lake Calenhad, but you can save yourself a trip if you have a high enough cunning score. Either you can trick him into revealing that he's lying through dialogue, or you can try opening the door to Brother Genitivi's room. He will try to interpose, at which point you can insist on opening the door. Whether you trick him, or you try and open the door, Weylon will attack. Weylon is a pushover, and he will go down quickly under the weight of your party. If you listen to his lies and go to the Spoiled Princess, the bartender won't know who you're talking about, and you'll find a pack of cultists waiting for you outside. When you get back to Denerim, you'll have to fight Weylon anyway. It's up to you whether you want the extra experience. Either way, after Weylon goes down, search Genitivi's bedroom to find some of his research. The Village of Haven will be unlocked on your world map, and you can be on your way.
Haven
The village of Haven lives up to its name, but unfortunately it's a haven from people like you. The villagers will treat you with extreme suspicion and basically do everything in your power to make you go away. Poke around enough, and you'll eventually be attacked. There are a few ways to get waves to cultists to descend upon you. You can check the back area of the shop to find the body of a Redcliffe Knight, you can investigate the bloodied altar in the abandoned home, or you can persist in questioning Father Eirik in the Chantry. In all three cases, you will inevitably be attacked. However you do it, you goal is to kill Father Eirik. Eirik has a few goons, but he isn't tough. Get him to focus on your tank, then have everyone take out the mooks. When he's down, you will recover the Cultist Medallion from his body, which is your key to the Ruined Temple nearby. There's also a secret passageway in the corner of the Chantry, where you'll find Brother Genitivi. After some minor chit-chat, Genitivi will ask to go with you, then open up the secret passageway into the Ruined Temple. Now the hunt is really on.
Wraiths, trying to knock them out with magic. Be warned that you are apt to be overwhelmed if Ash Wraiths mix with cultists, so do your best to keep them separate. Using the map above, head to the Cultist Chambers, where you'll be able to find the Southeastern Chamber Key. Make sure you take it as slowly as possible because there are a ton of cultists, and they are quite capable of overwhelming you. Cone of Cold will really help, as if I can freeze several enemies at once. If you have someone with Stone Fist, they can even shatter a foe. Otherwise, try to bottleneck them and hit them with Area of Effect spells. Grab the Southeastern Chamber Key from the ornate chest, then head to the locked door in the southeastern corner. When you arrive at the door, you'll be ambushed by more cultists. Thankfully, these cultists aren't very smart, because you have a ton of room to maneuver. Once you have dispensed with them, go in and grab the Main Door Key and open all the treasure chests you can. You can now open the main door, but as you might have guessed, there will be more baddies waiting for you when you do. As before, the cultist mage is your top priority -- if you don't take him down, he will destroy you with AoE spells. Second priority should be Ash Wraiths, which are more dangerous than your average cultists. The whole time archers will be peppering you with arrows, so remember Heroic Aura or other missile defenses if you have them. Ignite the magic brazier, and continue on your way to the next section of the dungeon. At the top, an Ash Wraith will materialize to menace your party, and cultists will rush in through doors on either side of the chamber. Back off, regroup, and try to take out the Ash Wrath as quickly as possible. Frost spells like Winter's Grasp work well, and AoE magic is useful for keep cultists off your back. You'll need to heal early and often to survive with spells like Group Heal and poultices. At this point, you will find yourself at a fork in the road. The good news is that it doesn't matter which way you go, so head west. Kill any cultists you see, and keep walking when you come upon the treasure chests -- they all contain Ash Wraiths. The only one with treasure is locked. The stairs at the end of the hallway lead to the Caverns.
Caverns
Almost as soon as you enter the Caverns, you will come under attact by a cultist overseer and his goon. Luckily, you've got plenty of cover, and it's quite possible to lure enemy combatants to your position. Crush them as they approach. Beyond the entrance, you wiill eventually encounter Drakes and Dragonlings. The latter you've met before, but the former are older and much more dangerous, using an overrun attack that will do devastating damage. If you don't freeze and shatter them with the Cone of Cold/Stone Fist combination, they are more than capable of overwhelming your party. Drakes lurk in the chamber at the very top of the map, and a smaller chamber to the side, so beware. Unless you're looking for scales, you probably don't want to venture into the rightward chamber. Heading down the left side, you will encounter a lone mage and a couple assassins. The assasins are nasty, and will use backstabs to keep you offguard. Do your best to keep your tank on them while you go for the mages, and focus your fire as much as possible. If you decide to tempt the topmost chamber, you will find yourself beset by three waves of foes. First cultists will attack, with a mage bringing up the rear. After that, the much easier Dragonlings will come in, but they will be aided by the magic-wielding Cultist Overseer. Finally, two Drakes will join a bunch of cultists. The final group is obviously the most dangerous, with the two Drake's being overwhelming on your own. Freeze them and shatter them, or try to knock everyone down with fireballs. Don't move into the open, or you will be surrounded and killed by all three waves at once. Stay in the hallway, and try and bottleneck them. Your reward will be a couple Drake Scales, three of which will gain you the excellent Drake Scale Armor from Wade's Emporium in Denerim.
Mountains. Be warned, Orzammar is not for the faint of heart, or for someone who s just getting started with the quests.
Frostback Mountains
On the way up to the front steps, you ll bump into a group of Bounty Hunters. You shouldn t have much trouble with them so long as you keep an eye on the mage. When they go down, continue past the gossips and up to the front door, where you ll find a messenger for Loghain arguing for the right to enter Orzammar. It s possible to dissuade or intimidate Imrek from attacking, but he will most likely attack in the end. He has some reasonably tough bodyguards with him, but they re no worse than the Bounty Hunters you just faced. Defeat them, then head into Orzammar.
Orzammar
After passing through the Hall of Heroes (the statues are worth codex entries), you ll find yourself in the Orzammar Commons. There are lots of vendors here as well as the usual array of sidequests, so make sure you have a walk around before you continue. When you re ready, head to the Diamond Quarter. You now have a choice between supporting Lord Harrowmont and Prince Bhelen for the throne. You eventually have to pick one, so just pick one and stick with them. Think of it as a necessary evil. Depending on who you pick, you ll have separate tasks.
Dust Town
Your mission is to find the Dwarven crimelord Jarvia and kill her. Unfortunately, her whereabouts aren t exactly obvious, and the people of Dust Town are too scared to talk. You ll have to do some bribing in order to find the entrance to her hideout. You have a few options for finding the entrance to Jarvia s hideout, but your best bet is Nadezda, who is huddling by a fire in the center of town. With a little prompting, she ll tell you that you need token to get through Dust Town s suspicious door. Other alternatives include bribing Rogek, or talking to Alimar.
Once you have your info, head into the Slums Household, and you ll find Jarvia s men waiting for you. Beat them, and the leader will surrender when he s low on health. With high enough persuasion or intimidation, the thug will tell you how to get in. Otherwise, you ll have to kill him and take the token from his body. Use it on the suspicious door, and you ll be into Jarzia s hideout.
Caradin s Cross
With Jarvia gone, your chosen candidate has one more task for you. You ll need to venture into the Deep Roads and recover the Paragon, who has the power to cast the deciding vote and thus decide the king. This is the meat of the quest, and can be extremely difficult if you re not prepared. You ll be battling through three separate dungeons and two difficult bosses, so have plenty of lyrium, poultices and injury kits with you. If you re still early in the game, you might want to turn around now! The final boss is absolutely brutal for early characters. Caridin s Cross is relatively straight-forward. The main highway is broken, so you ll have to go around, which of course means battling through tons of darkspawn. The gang is all here, incuding Genlocks, Hurlocks, Emissaries and Ogres. Luckily, you ll have a fair amount of room to operate, which means that you ll be able to set up a gauntlet of pain for their approach. Before you even get started, you ll have to make your way past some hired goons. These are of the same sort you fought in Jarvia s hideout, so dispatch them as you usually do. When you re finished, head down the highway and make a right into the large open cavern. Be extremely careful when you enter the open area, because the darkspawn are everywhere. Inch your way forward carefully, and tempt out whatever darkspawn you see with ranged attacks. They ll rush you, and you ll be able to take them down quickly. If you simply run in, you ll probably be cut down by the oncoming tide, so take your time. When you reach the first campire, an Emissary will be waiting for you. If you approach, he ll immediately run into a corner, where he ll make your life miserable with AoE attacks. With the rest of the darkspawn gone, try to snipe him from a distance if you can. Make your way over to the bridge. Take it very, very slowly. A Hurlock Alpha will attack, and you should be able to take him down 4-1 as long as you don t move forward too quickly. If you do move forward, archers will appear behind you and make your life miserable. When the Alpha is gone, be ready for the archers. More campfires are up ahead, so use the tactics as before. You can probably get quite a few shots on the Ogre lurking near the fire before he gets up close. When he does, get your tank up there and lock him down with your mage.
When you pop out, you ll find yourself in the midst of some Genlocks and an enraged Bronto. Focus on the charging beast first, then knock out the Genlocks as usual. You now have a choice follow the main highway and brave a fortified position, or head down another side road. The fortified position is tough, but the side road has a number of vicious Shrieks as well as an Ogre Alpha. You will have encountered a Shriek earlier, but they can be tough they charge very quickly, and are only really susceptible to magic. If one approaches, have your mage ready. Either route will get you to the next area, so the choice is yours. If you decide to attack the Ballista, try to hang back and snipe the darkspawn that s firing the bolts. It might seem counterintuitive, but if he s getting nailed by magic or arrows, he ll have a hard time targeting and taking you down. With the Ballista out of commission, you can more safely attack. With the position under your control, the darkspawn will charge, but this time you ll be the one with the Ballista. Use it wisely. Whichever route you choose, you ll eventually make it to the route leading to the next area, which is Ortan Thaig. Take a deep breath you re not even close to being finished yet. When you roll into Ortan Thaig, you might notice that most of the darkspawn are not in the best of condition. Actually, they re all dead. Want to guess what did it? That s right, now you get to fight tons of giant spiders. They re tough little buggers, and they love to use their Overwhelm attack to bring extra pain to your caster s fleshy bits. Destroy them before they get too close. You ll run into your first batch of spiders as you exit the long passageway near the beginning or Ortan Thaig. They have a tendency to swarm, and the little buggers move quickly, so watch out. If they get up close, they ll use webbing to hold you down. Burn them with fire, or freeze and shatter them. Beware that a number of them will be ranked (their name will be yellow, not white), which will make it impossible to shatter them. Further up the passageway, you ll actually bear witness to a large scale fight between the darkspawn and the spiders. You don t have a particular rooting interest in either side other than to see them both die, of course so hang back and shoot the spiders. The darkspawn will probably be overwhelmed, but you can knock out quite a few spiders before that happens. When you move up ahead, take care because there s a Shriek Alpha lurking around. Take it down with magic. When you ve finished off the spiders and the darkspawn, you ll head back into the tunnel network to find a spider, which quickly scuttles behind a web. Walk (or charge) into this web, and you ll find yourself quickly surrounded by hordes of Poisonous Spiders, at which point you ll likely lose a character or two (or three). Snipe the spider and make it charge, then continue across. In the city proper you ll get a temporary respite from spiders, only to have to fight Golems and Enraged Spirits. If you remember how tough Golems were in the Broken Circle quest, realize that they aren t any easy here. Worse, you don t have the Golem form with which to deal with them anymore. Make them a top priority target, taking care to pummel them with magic. The spirits likewise go down fairly quickly to magic. Ruck will be waiting for you in the upper portion of the city, but he ll be nervous at first. Be nice to him, and he ll grow to trust you (even characters with low cunning shouldn t have trouble he s not what you would call smart ). When you re ready, make your way to the bridge crossing, where you ll find a large number of Golems and Forgotten Spirits. Lure the Golem away one at a time, then engage. Otherwise, you risk being overwhelmed. Down the narrow passageway, the spiders will return. They love coming down from the ceiling, so get ready for a few good scares. Your biggest concern should be the Genlock Emissary waiting for you in the opening ahead, which will try to pelt you with AoE attacks, as per usual. Do your best to snipe him lest you be overwhelmed. Shortly after the Genlock Emissary is defeated, you ll find the Corrupted Spider Queen. She ll attack with some of her minions, so get her kids out of the way before you strike. Beware, because she not only has a decently strong spit attack, but will web up your entire team as well. Cycle through your normal spells and keep her locked down. When she s hurt enough, she ll vanish into the ceiling, and more spiders will attack. When the mooks have been defeated, mom will attack again. Rinse and repeat, and the Spider Queen will go down. Have a look at Branka s Journal, then continue into The Dead Trenches.
they ll be cut down by your swords. When the bridge is clear, the Legionnaires will run to the other side and thank you. Later, you can persuade the head Legionnaire Kardol to join your cause against the darkspawn if you have enough cunning and persuasion. Otherwise, he ll thank you politely and leave. Head to the left of the massive gate and take the narrow, winding trail. More darkspawn will attack, but they will come from straight ahead, so you can take them out with the gauntlet. When you pop out into the main area, you ll find that you can investigate a number of side areas. These are all tombs, and each of the coffins are full of treasure. If you re hurting for items, it s not a bad idea to investigate them thoroughly. After working your way through another gaggle of Genlocks and Hurlocks (and a Genlock Emissary watch out), you ll find that there s a forge area to your right. An extremely powerful archer is waiting for you there, along with two normal archers and a complement of Hurlocks. He s tough to take down, but it s worth it. He drops a some good items, and a positively murderous bow. You will not find anything better for quite a while, so get it while you can. Be careful though if you rush him, you re apt to be overwhelmed by Hurlocks from behind. Wait until the coast is clear, or just snipe him from afar with your whole party. Just before you reach a massive bridge, you ll reach a room where you ll be assaulted by a large number of skeletons. Keep to the door and pick them off. When you re finished, make your way across the bridge. A little way forward, Shrieks will suddenly come from both sides. Quickly get to one of the little alcoves on the side so that they come from front. If they flank and surround you, you will die. There s a lot of them, so break out the crowd control, then move on. A peculiar altar lies ahead, along with an Emissary and some more skeletons. Take out the Emissary, then focus on the skeletons. If you let the darkspawn mage do his thing, you know what will happen. Make your way down the tunnels ahead, and you ll eventually come upon a thoroughly messed up dwarf who used to work for Branka. She ll ramble on for a bit, then flee. Past a locked door, you ll find a room with a lot of Forgotten Spirits just kind of chilling out. They won t attack, so just head past them, grab the codex from the altar, then go a little further and get the key you need (along with a piece of armor of the Lost Caste sidequest. The spirits will promptly attack, so use the natural chokepoint to your advantage. Be careful there s a lot of them. Lock them down with your mages and take them out. The answer to all this madness isn t far now.
There ll be another one waiting when you go back in, so rinse and repeat. When they re both gone, find all of the gas valves and shut them down. More Golems await in the next room, only you ll have to fight two of them this time. When they spring to life on either side of you, they ll both immediately use Hurl. Stop them, or you ll regret it. In our party, Wynne used Stone Fist while Morrigan used Cone of Cold. From that point, focus fire on one and take it out as fast as possible. Beware of Quake it will seriously mess up your characters. Use Group Healing immediately if it happens. Two more Golems will spring to life up ahead use the same tactics on them. Another miniboss coming up. From the entryway, run up and engage the nearest Forgotten Spirit and kill him. Then use the flashing anvil to blow up the Spirit Anvil s face. He ll spin, more spirits will appear, rinse and repeat. Stay in the entryway simple so you have room to maneuver. When all the faces are gone, you re not finished. Keep killing a spirit at a time and activating the anvil, and the number of spirits will begin to diminish. When all of the spirits are gone, you ll be finished.
Crowning a King
Whichever Paragon you choose, you ll have a shiny new crown to award to the candidate of your choice. Whomever you choose, the other side will be most displeased. So displeased, in fact, that they ll attack. A battle royale will ensue, but you don t have to be too involved. The enemy is outnumbered, and will eventually be defeated. The succession battle is over, but its legacy remains to some extent. Be ready to encounter Dwarven Rebels on the road. With a new king crowned, you can now move on to your final quest a bid to get the Dalish Elves of the Brecilian Forest onboard for the final fight.
Dalish Camp
When you enter the Brecilian forest, you'll immediately be stopped by the Dalish. Ask to be brought to their leader, and you'll meet Keeper Zathrian. He'll explain that werewolves have infected his people with a terrible curse. Destroy the werewolves, and you'll have his support. Before you go, you can get some equipment. If you ask Zathrian about equipment, he'll tell you that the armorer has some
available for you. After speaking with the smithy, you'll find the chest right behind his area. It contains a fair amount of valuable equipment, including a decent bow and lyium potions. edit: There is a young Dalish hunter in the camp who has some trouble with "girl problem". If you help him out of it, whether by hunting pelts for him or simply talked the girl out of it, you would be rewarded a history book, which could be useful later in trading with the mad hermit. Without defined roads, the forest is actually a bit harder to navigate than most areas. Keep making a general progression to the northwestern corner though, and you'll eventually make it. As you move through the forest, you'll encounter wolves, darkspawn and bears. You'll meet Swiftrunner for the first up at the little crossroads island near the waterfall. He doesn't like you, and will make his disdain clear by attacking. The werewolves are fast and like to use frenzy and overwhelm attacks, so take care lest you suddenly find yourself with a dead tank. When Swiftrunner is defeated, he'll flee. You'll eventually meet the tormented werewolf Danyla. She'll beg you to kill her, but you can get some information from her first. Agree to give something special to her husband and tell him that she's dead, and she'll give you a scarf. You can give it to him, or you can use it for a task a little later in the woods. Wild Sylvans dot the road to the eastern part of the forest. Burn them with the fire, and they'll go down quickly. Their leader is next to the southeastern exit, and he's looking for an acorn. In exchange, he'll give you a branch that will help you get past the next area. You can either go looking for it, or kill him and take his reward for yourself. If you opt to fight him, he'll call in his Wild Sylvan buddies, and will root your entire party in place for moderate damage. Use fire to kill him as fast as possible.
Almost as soon as you enter this floor, you'll be beset by Poisonous Spiders, which obviously isn't the funnest thing in the world. They'll come in from two sides, so get your party's back to a wall and use crowd control measures like Cone of Cold. The little passageway nearby is a good spot. After the spiders are disposed of, skeletons will become your primary foe in this stage. You'll soon run into a small boy, who will not respond to anything you say. A small horde of the undead will soon battle, so dig in and use whatever AoE spells you have. A well-placed fireball can really do a lot of damage here. As a rule of thumb, any large chamber you encounter will have a mess of skeletons. Always proceed with caution. For those looking to be an Arcane Warrior, eventually you'll find a phylactery with a spirit. Speak with it by examining the phylactery, and it'll eventually offer you a chance to share memories. Accept, and you'll get your specialty. When you arrive at the large, square room in the bottom right of the map, take special care, When you open the door, you'll be pelted by skeleton archers. If you charge in, you'll immediately be barbequed by fire traps on all sides. Keep out, and shoot the skeletons from afar. When you're done, send in a rogue to disarm the traps, or simply hurry through and risk the traps. When you reach the large chamber in the bottom left, you'll find an Arcane Horror. His attacks aren't too bad from afar, so stay back and pelt him with arrows or magic. He'll go down quickly, but watch out for his large AoE spell. As you can see from the image above, it can hurt just a little bit. Make your way up into the next chamber, and you'll find a pool of water. Enter it, and you'll be in the Lair of the Werewolves.
Denerim
After a brief chat with Eamon, you'll head to Denerim. The first person you'll encounter is Loghain, who will immediately start giving you trouble about the succession. When dealing with Loghain and company, try to be as political as possible. If you want Alistair to be king, for instance, the best thing you can do is to not mention him at all. You'll head to Eamon's estate, where he'll tell you to have a look around the capital. Go and get equipped for a long quest, and when you're ready, return to speak with Eamon. At that point, you'll learn that Queen Anora is being held prisoner by Loghain, and that you need to rescue her. Head to the Arl of Denerim's Estate to begin the quest. On your way to the estate, you'll be ambushed once again by the Crows. At this point, Zevan will turn on you if he has a neutral or low opinion of you. On the other hand, he'll fight alongside you if he likes you, or he'll simply leave but remain in the party. If he turns on you, you'll have to kill him, and that will be that. In the meantime, the fight itself can be quite brutal. Back into a corner as quickly as possible, and lock down the enemy archers if possible. With your back to the wall, enemy assassins won't be able to backstab you, and you should have the advantage. When you arrive at the Arl of Denerim's estate, you'll find that the front door is blocked by a large crowd of protesters. Slip around to the side alley and toward the back door. Some soldiers will spot you, so try to snipe them from afar if you can. When you arrive, you'll find two soldiers guarding the door. If you want lots of combat on your hands, just kill the soldiers and head on in. Otherwise, let Erlina distract the guards, take the option to put on your disguise, then head in. If you don't go in wearing a disguise, the cooks will think you're brigands and call for the guards. Without the disguise, you'll have to hold a particular doorway and use tons of AoE spells to keep from being overwhelmed. With the disguise, you're free to make your way to the dungeon where the Queen is being held. Unfortunately, the doorway is blocked by magic, and the only way to disengage it is to find the mage who created it. Erlina suggests checking Howe's bedroom, but your disguise will be uncovered if you decide to check it out. Nevertheless, it's worth the trip -- Howe's bedroom contains the Grey Warden documents which lead to a massive cache of weapons and armor in the market. After speaking with Riordan later, check out the warehouse behind the Gnawed Noble Tavern to find a treasure trove of weapons. There's also a small room nearby containing Howe's treasure. If you have a rogue, you can unlock it now. Otherwise, use the key you get from Howe's body. When you arrive in the dungeon, a guard will immediately spot you and you'll lose your disguise. Get ready for some fighting. Before you do so though, make sure to free Riordan, who will helpfully kill the guard watching after him and change into his armor. You'll be dealing with Riordan a fair amount later. The rest of the enemies in this area are fairly standard jailers, and they'll go down without much trouble.
Fort Drakon
You have two options -- either you can break in with your companions, or break out yourself. If you choose the former, you'll have to figure out a way to get out of the cell then fight to the entrance. If the former, the perspective will switch to your other party members, who will help only if they have a high enough approval rating. They'll use various stories to try and get in, and provided their cunning is high enough, the guard will let them in. Otherwise, your compansions will have to kill the guard and take the key. Either way, they'll have to make their way to your characer's cell, then escape. If you choose to escape, you have several options. You can seduce him as either sex (with the right Persuade score), pretend to be ill, pretend there are darkspawn nearby, pick the lock, or simply knock the poor fool out with a punch. With the guard out of commission, you can take his key and open up the door. Head to the chest and grab your equipment (or don't, if you want a massive handicap). If Alistair was in your party, he'll be with you when you escape. Otherwise, it's just you. If you're alone, don't worry -- most of the guards are alone. There will only be a few instances in which you'll be rushed, which is when you should flee and try to drawn them/snipe them down (or if you're a mage, just fling a fireball at them). Alternatively, head into the kennel and fight the guard with his Mabari War Dogs. When you're done, look for the storage room on the right after you leave the kennel and grab the armor. From that point, you'll be in disguise and you don't have to worry about fighting so much.When you reach the guarded checkpoint though, the guards will ask for a password. If you've passed inspection (talk to the Colonel in his room and use Persuade him that you're ready), you'll be able to pass freely. Otherwise, you'll need to give a password. If you didn't steal the list of passwords from the guards in the storage room to the east of the kennels, then the password you're looking for is "rabbit." Otherwise, you'll have to fight your way out. Conversely, when your companions reach the checkpoint, they'll have to fight from that point on. Head to the righthand room just before the exit to find the Captain of the Guard. He'll attack, and he's a fairly formidable twohanded weapon user. Take him down now, or you'll have to fight him when you try to leave. When you're done, go and get your companions, who will pop out in the Chantry (only the people that like you will show up). Fight the rest of the guards, and escape back to the Estate. Back at the Estate Before the Landsmeet can finally get underway, you need to investigate strange doings in the Alienage. Before that though, you have some business with Anora. Her support during the Landsmeet will be a big positive in defeating Loghain's argument for the throne. Head to her room and talk with her. The key things to keep in mind is that she still loves Loghain, and that she really wants the throne for herself. Promise your support, even if you have no intention of supporting her. She'll be believe you and speak out against Loghain in the Landsmeet. When you're done talking to her, head back into the city.
The Alienage
Before you go to the Alienge, make sure you stop by the tavern and meet Alfstanna. If you rescued Irminric the slightly crazy Templar from his cell, give her the ring you have. Make mention of Loghain hiring a blood mage to poison Eamon, and you'll get a heavy positive at the Landsmeet. Now head to the Alienage, where you'll find that many of the elves are sick with some sort of plague. A large crowd of elves are at the local hospice near the top of the map, demanding answers. Talk to Shianni, and she'll fill you in a bit on what's going on. Sneak around to the side entrance, and you'll encounter an elven guard. Bribe him to let you in, or simply kill him and take his key. If you're an elf, you can feign illness to get in, then resist the healers and take them out before going to get your own party. In the Hospice, soldiers and healers alike will attack. Loot everything, including a note containing a key that unlocks the Apartments' main door. Head outside, and be ready for another large fight. Get your back against the door, and take everyone out as quickly as possible. When you're finished, talk to Shianni, and she'll direct you to the run-down apartments in the alleyway. Inside the apartments, you'll encounter an elf who will tell you that elves are being marched into the landord's office and vanishing. Pick the lock to that office, and you'll find some Imperial guards. Slay them, and you can get some decent loot from the chests. It's worth it to briefly drop a rogue into your party to do so. With the key from the Hospice, you can unlock the other door and emerge into the back alley. There are more guards in the back alley, and they'll fight no more matter what you try to say. This can be a tough fight if you're not careful, because there a large number of archers in the back who will snipe you at range while the rest of the guards pin you to the door. Use an AoE spell like Fireball or Blizzard to keep them off-balance while you engage the soldiers up front. With the bad guys out of the way, you can make your way into the warehouse.
The Warehouse
When you arrive in the compound, Devera will challenge you with her soldiers. With a high enough persuasion/intimidation score, you can convince her to take you straight to her boss. Otherwise, you'll have to take her out, and it's quite a tough fight. She hangs back near the side door and snipes while a large crowd of soldiers attack you. It's a small room, and you won have a lot of room to maneuver. Start by back into the right hand corner, away from the snipers and getting your tank out there. If you can, get an AoE spell into the sniper alcove to give yourself some breathing range and possibly take out the archers. In the meantime, use spells like Cold of Cone to help you against the soldiers. Beware if you try to rush the archers -- there are a line of bear traps on the floor. In the meantime, spells like Captivating Song (for Bards) and Mind Blast can keep the soldiers attacking off-balance. When you reach Caladrius (a few more soldiers are in the way before you get there), he'll want to bargain. You have a few options here: y He'll try to bribe you. If you accept, he'll take the profits and slaves and leave while leaving you with the evidence against Loghain. y Intimidate him, and he'll leave with everything but the slaves. y Persuade him to give you the evidence for free. He'll leave with the profits and the slaves. y Fight him. If you win, you can just let him go and keep everything. Otherwise, you can get him to drain the slaves' life force and give it to you,then force him to leave. Either way, you get everything. If you fight Caladrius, you'll notice that he's in perfect position for a well-placed AoE spell. Blizzard positive wrecks his forces, with only a few stragglers able to charge up the stairs after you. With his followers down, Caladrius will try to use cold attacks like Cone of Cold and Winter's Grasp to give you trouble. Beat him, and he'll surrender. Make sure to return with a rogue and check the treasure box in his room to get the profits and other goodies.
The Landsmeet
The big moment has arrived at last. Loghain will make his case to the assembled masses, and you will be able to present evidence of your own. Here are a few things to remember: y As mentioned earlier, having Anora's support will be a huge boost. y Don't mention that King Cailan was left to die. It's always a negative. y Don't mention Alistair. It's always a negative. y Mention the darkspawn threat when you have the chance, and you'll get a vote with only a small persuasion check. With all those points in mind, Loghain will almost surely go down in defeat. He'll rebel, and you'll either to fight his forces, or you can face him in a duel. Conversely, if he wins, you will rebel. Either way, choose whether you want a large battle royale, or a personal duel.
Alistair rules with Anora: If you let Loghain live, Alistair will only keep the throne if he has changed, at which point it's easier to get him to marry Anora. Otherwise, you'll have to kill Loghain yourself. You'll also need a decent Persuasion rating to talk Alistair into going through with it.
Whomever ends up on the throne, the die will have been cast. Prepare for the final battle.
Redcliffe
When you arrive at Redcliffe Village, you'll find that it's been destroyed, and that darkspawn are crawling amongst the ruins. The villagers have all fled back to the castle. After a brief conversation with a terrified villager, make your way into the castle. This is your chance to feel completely awesome. The darkspawn you encounter will all be Hurlock and Genlock grunts, and they will all go down in one or two hits. No matter which class you chose, they will go down like wheat before a sythe. There is a Hurlock Alpha that's lurking up top, but the combined forces of your party should be more than enough to handle him. Your biggest threat is an Ogre Alpha that shows up in the courtyard. Like all Alphas, he's mostly a really strong version of the normal boss. He doesn't like magic though, and a steady diet of offensive spells will take him down quickly. When you get into the castle, go and talk to Eamon and Riordan. They'll explain that the darkspawn horde has attacked Denerim, and that you'll need to march with your armies to stop them. Riordan will want to speak with you alone, so go and talk with him. After you're little chat, go and seek out Morrigan. She'll be waiting in your room, and she'll have a proposal for you. To save yourself or another Grey Warden from having to make the ultimate sacrifice in the final battle with the Archdemon, you'll need to have sex with Morrigan and impregnate her. After the battle, she'll take the resulting child and leave. If you agree, then congratulations, you're saved. If you don't, then she won't offer again, and someone will have to die. If you're a woman, there's one extra step to this whole process. Since you obviously can't impregnate Morrigan, you'll have to get Alistair or Loghain to do it for you. Break it to them gently, and you'll be able to convince them even with a low Persuasion score. Once again, congratulations, you're saved. After you've finished stocking up supplies, commence the final battle.
Denerim Gates
Once again, BioWare has decided to let you, the player, feel awesome. Waves of Hurlock and Genlock Grunts will attack, and you will be able to crush them with only a few shots. All around you, your party will be fighting at your side, though you won't be able to control them. Eventually the supply of darkspawn will run low, and you'll need to go and talk to Riordan to continue.
Your Armies
You now have access to your armies. The composition will be different depending on the decisions you've made, and they will have different strengths and weaknesses. y The Redcliffe Army is a decent melee army. Use them for close quarters combat. y Dwarves are very good defenders, but do little damage. An exception is if you convinced the Legionnaire's to help you -- they will periodically spawn with the rest of your armies, and do great damage. y If you sided with Branka, you'll get a contingent of Golems. As usual, they are wrecking machines, and great crowd clearers. If you have them, you may want to save them for the Archdemon. y Elves are terrific archers. Since they stay out of battle and rarely die, they offer great chip damage. y Werewolves have terrific offense, but poor defense. y Mages will cast devastating spells. Another good option for the archdemon. y The Templars are slightly better than the Redcliffe Army. If you have them, use them instead of the Redcliffe group. You can only deploy one army in each area. Take stock of your situation, and deploy the group that fits the situation, or they will get slaughtered. When their count hits zero, that's it -- you're on your own.
The Alienage
Your goal is to take out the Archdemon's two generals before the final battle. There's one in the Alienage, and one in the Marketplace, and it's up to you which one you want to engage first. The one in the Marketplace is definitely much easier, but it doesn't make a ton of difference either way. When you arrive in the Alienage, Shianna will tell you in a panic that the darkspawn are breaking through the gates. Run up to the gates, where you'll see an Ogre trying to break down the doors. This is the perfect chance to start things off with a bang, so use an AoE spell on the waiting horde. Either Blizzard or Inferno does quite nicely. When the gates go down, retreat immediately and call in a durable melee army. Dwarves work well, but so do Redcliffe Soldiers and Templars. While they handle the darkspawn, you can engage the Ogre that charges into the battleground. Stay around the corner to avoid the general's magical strikes, and keep killing darkspawn until you have an opening. Only engage the general if your army is surrounding him. He's extremely tough, and loves to use Paralysis Glyphs and spells like Chain Lightning to make your life miserable. If your army isn't around helping you out, you will in all probability die. Focus fire on him and keep him off-balance until he dies, then mop up the rest of the darkspawn.
The Marketplace
You'll need another strong melee army in the Marketplace. Ogres will come swarming in, and they are quite capable of overwhelming you if you're not careful. Templars, the Redcliffe Army and Werewolves are great for dishing out the damage. You might want to hold off on sending in Golems until a tougher situation. Kill enough Ogres, and the Hurlock General will charge in to engage your forces. He's a tough two-handed melee fighter, but with no Ogres to help him and your army giving you a hand, he'll go down in no time flat. Just make sure to keep an eye on your health while battling him, and keep him offbalance with Dirty Fighting and various spells.
Fort Drakon
You'll begin in the Fort Drakon courtyard. Three sets of Archers will be waiting behind barriers for you, and two Dragons will appear if you try to venture forward. Call in the Elven Archers or Mages, and snipe the darkspawn behind their barriers. If you stay back, you'll get a quick breather to heal. Start forward a tiny bit, and the Dragons will appear. Keep them frozen or locked down, and try to fill them arrows as they approach. When they get close enough, knock them out with melee, taking care to avoid the fire breath. When they're gone, take another couple step forwards, and commence sniping the archers and emissaries waiting on the steps. As always, Area of Effect spells work wonders here. With the bad guys down, you are now free to enter Fort Drakon. You now have just two floors between you and the Archdemon. Fort Drakon seems quite enough, save for all the dead bodies lying about. When you enter the main chapel (you'll know it by how big it is), you'll immediately be accosted by a horde of Lesser and Greater Shades. Obviously, magic helps a lot, so have your main attack spells at the ready. Since they move in so quickly, you probably won't be able to launch an Area of Effect spell. Cone of Cold is still great for knocking out Lesser Shades though.
The Conjurer
When the Conjurer shows up, get ready for a fairly serious magical battle. He's more powerful than the Emissaries, and wields all of the dangerous Area of Effect spells like Chain Lightning. You can try to snipe him from afar, but he's apt to make that hard with his AoE spells and spells like Death Cloud. If you have to get in close, be ready to support heavily with magic to keep him offguard. Toward the bottom of the first floor, you'll suddenly be accosted by a mass of corpses along with a Hurlock Emissary and Genlock Shapechanger. Like the Conjurer, the Hurlock Emissary carries the nasty Swarm spell, which will drain energy from you and restore life for him. Do whatever you can to lock him down alongside the Shapechanger. If the Shapechanger transforms, let your tank handle him. The corpses are weak, and relatively easy to deal with. Up to the second floor, where you've got another miniboss encounter waiting for you. First though, you'll have to deal with a Genlock Alpha and two Hurlock Alphas waiting in ambush. Luckily, they aren't all that tough, though they can hit hard if you're not careful. Lock down one at a time with spells, and keep the other others off-balance with cold spells and stunning attacks while you do so. Your main foe on this floor is the Genlcok Master Assassin and his acolytes. They await in the western portion of the floor, near the top of the map. Like all assassins, they'll appear and disappear, all the while trying to stab you in the back. They can be handled so as long as you find a corner and keep your back to it. They aren't particularly strong, so the acolytes in particular should go down fast. Just don't let that master assassin backstab you -- you'll die, and fast. Your final foes will be a Hurlock Emissary and two Ogres. At this point, the Hurlock should take precedence, since the Ogres can take a bit to take down. Freeze or lock them down with something like a Force Field, and pound the Emissary. When the Ogres are gone, you are ready to take on the Archdemon. Make sure you're fully prepared and have all of your healing and magical restoration items at the ready, then head upstairs.