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| Dragon Age: Inquisition created by BioWare. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Main Walkthrough Page
Important note: If you choose this path, you can never pursue the quest In Hushed Whispers, and you'll be set against the Mages. Choose wisely.
Champions of the Just
- Champions of the Just will appear as an Operation after you visit Val Royeaux and encounter the Templars on their way out. You'l need fifteen Power to engage upon it. After choosing the Operation you'll watch a cut scene; you still have a chance to choose In Hushed Whispers after the cut scene, if you wish. This possibility vanishes as soon as you expend your Power.
- Once you've confirmed Champions of the Just you'll be shuttled to the Therinfal Redoubt, and after a cut scene (Vivienne gets some additional dialogue here) you'll be free to explore the limited grounds. Head west into the Gatehouse, check the stables on the grounds for some loot, and approach Knight-Templar Barris. Speaking to him will trigger a cut scene. You'll get an additional option if Cassandra's along. Once you're done talking you'll be shuttled inside the grounds.
- During the conversation you'll have the option to engage in a ritual of moving standards to indicate your Inquisitor's feelings on Andraste, the people of Thedas, and the Templars. Raise the standards in order of importance, with the highest being the most important. Agree to the ritual and you'll get approvals and disapprovals with your teammates, depending on which standards you raise first:
- If Andraste takes the top spot, Cassandra will slightly approve while Solas slightly disapproves.
- If the people come first, Varric and Sera will slightly approve while Vivienne slightly disapproves.
- If the Templars are on top, Blackwell and Vivienne will slightly approve while Sera slightly disapproves.
Your choice of rationale can also affect relations to a small degree. Refuse to do the ritual and you'll still gain admittance, though events will change a little. Follow Barris into the Redoubt regardless, checking the courtyard for loot in its far corners.
- Regardless of the ritual, you'll wind up in a battle as soon as you're inside Therinfal. With Barris as a guest you'll have to take on Knight-Captain Denam and several Red Templars and Red Templar Marksmen. You're caught in a crossfire as soon as this battle begins, so spread out your forces and try to rush the Marksmen while Barris and one of your melee units attract Denam and the Templars. The area is small enough that AOE attacks are quite effective, and electricity in particular can muck up Denam.
- Go through the door on the far side of the room. There are two more Red Templars inside. Wipe 'em out, then check this narrow hallway. There's loot straight ahead, in a locked door to your right (only Rogues need apply), and at the right end of the hall, along with some interesting notes. To the left is a set of stairs. A Rogue can pop open a door halfway up the stairs to find some more loot. A door to your left at the top will return you to the courtyard.
- There are three Red Templars out here, on the ground to the north, and a Marksman stands atop a roof on the right. Use ranged attacks to wipe out the Marksman in advance so he can't pelt your Warriors from above. Two more Marksmen will join the battle once it begins, so try to wipe out as many Templars as you can before they arrive. If you want a more ranged approach, you can also climb a ladder to your left as you emerge into the courtyard to gain the high ground. Check around the area for sacks of loot once it's clear.
- (I had trouble with the courtyard, as it seemingly didn't load one of the enemies properly, and defeating them all did not count as a full sweep - which is what you need to progress. If that happens, reload from an autosave and go through the battle again.)
- Defeating the enemies in the courtyard will open a door along the right wall, and you'll find friendly Templars inside, duking it out with Red Templars. Help them, check the room for loot (you can find the To Be Corrupted Codex entry on one of the tables), and head upstairs. Before going out the door to the outer walls, check to your left for a chest, then hop over the crates beside the chest to find a way up to the third floor. A note up here may explain a few things.
- Further up the outside walls you'll find another Templar / Red Templar skirmish. Help your allies (don't neglect the Marksmen on the upper level, as they're easy to miss when you first enter the fight), then, assuming you have a Rogue, pop open the door on the left wall to find a room with another startling revelation. Inside is a chest containing lots of swag, in particular an Amulet of Power specifically for Cassandra, as well as another revealing letter. Head back outside after plundering the place and climb the stairs to the north.
- There's a bit of loot beside one of the statues in the next area, but for the most part all you want to do is climb the staircase they're flanking. Stuff will happen. Stuff.
Nightmare
- This section is trippy, but fairly straightforward. You'll engage with an Envy Demon throughout, answering questions and getting a bit pissed in the process. (Mages know a little bit more while going through here.) It's not too challenging...
- ... though when you reach the room with the green flame statues, you'll want to move carefully. You can get through here with minimal damage and without using Healing Potions so long as you don't try to power through. Immediately after the statues you'll find two doors; the one on the left is blocked, and can be opened via a method appropriate to your Inquisitor's talents (Warriors bash it open, Rogues unlock it, Mages blast it with their magic). Inside you'll find a sculpture that will begin the Demonic Dogma quest, granting you a +1 bonus to your Cunning in the process. Nice.
- The opposite room appears to be empty, but trying to leave will trigger a cut scene. Here you'll meet Cole, a benevolent spirit who's here to help. Follow Cole for a while until he disappears, leaving you in a dungeon. Proceed through the dungeon until you hit a junction in the hallway with a blueish tinge. Take a right here and you'll find Cole again; speak to him to reveal a source of Veilfire. Now you need to light some braziers.
- There's a brazier in the room on the left of the junction. Light it, then head back down the corridor the way you initially came, checking the rooms to your right and left. That done, return to the junction and light the brazier that has appeared on the eastern wall to reveal a new path.
- Before leaving this area, run back to the room where you saw Cassandra and Chancellor Roderick. In one of the side rooms here you'll find a Key, revealed by the Veilfire. At the end of the hallway you revealed earlier you'll find two doors; the door on the right requires the Key. Inside you'll find another brazier which you can light, and doing so will allow you to light another brazier on the moving wall in the hallway. When it moves back you'll find a passage to another inscription for Demonic Dogma, one that'll grant you a +2 Bonus to Constitution.
- Take a left back in the hallway and go up the stairs. You'll wind up in a forest that segues into the Redoubt you were exploring earlier in the quest. There are enemies here, but they're so weak as to be negligible. The only real danger comes from the green fade eruptions that dog your steps, and so long as you keep moving (and watch the ground for green auras) you shouldn't have any trouble avoiding these. Once you reach the building where you fought Red Templars alongside Templars in the real world, look on the third floor before leaving for a third inscription, which will finish Demonic Dogma and grant you a +3 bonus to Willpower. Reaching the same spot where this all began will end it as well, giving you +200 Influence and two Power.
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| Templars hold the Great Hall and prepare to reveal the Envy Demon. |
Back to the real world. After a cut scene you'll have a new quest, Holding the Great Hall, which will give you a new challenge... namely, holding the Great Hall. Barris and his Templars will remain in the Hall, fighting off invaders and waiting for you to bring three Templar Veterans and a store of Lyrium. Do that and you'll complete the quest. The Templars' stamina is measured by a status bar on the right side of the screen, and if it depletes the quest will be lost. If the bar is getting low, hoof it back to the Great Hall and help the Templars fight. Should you get low on Health Potions, there's a Supply Cache in the Great Hall.
Though you can run this process close to the chest by exploring thoroughly, you'll risk Barris getting killed if you allow the Great Hall to get too weak before jumping in to help. If you want him to survive, return to the Great Hall whenever one of your party members presses you to aid in the fighting.
- Pop into the Upper Barracks to start (southern door in the Hall). At the end of the first hall, beside a doorway leading outside, you can find some loot up on a gangplank. Outside the hall you'll find a courtyard guarded by two Red Templar Horrors, potent melee units which are basically Red Templar equivalents with some ranged attacks, and two Red Templar Marksmen. The Horrors are vulnerable to spirit magic; otherwise, normal attacks will work. Check the shack on the right for the Majestic Bastards Codex entry.
- Across the courtyard is a stretch of building with a single door. Before entering, check to the right of the door for a wall a Warrior can smash open, revealing a small cache of loot. That done, pop into the building proper, and walk through the first darkened room to a split in the path. On your left you'll find Red Templar Horrors battering Knight-Lieutenant Abrahas. Help him fight the beasties off, then, after he leaves for the Great Hall, check the battlefield for loot (including a chest beside a door you can't open).
- On the right side of the previous split you'll find Knight-Lieutenant duBois, similarly engaged against Red Templar forces. Help her out, and after she leaves, use a Rogue to pop open the locked door on the south side of the battlefield. It leads to a small dungeon with a few locked cells. Pop 'em open to find some decent loot. That done, return to the walls and run to the door opposite this landing, flush with the Great Hall. It leads back into the Great Hall, up to a higher vantage point from which you can lower a ladder and return to the fray.
- Head for the Officers' Quarters in the north next. This area isn't a great deal different from the south end of the Great Hall, despite the differing geography. After killing the Red Templars in the courtyard, check the middle room for a cut scene (dangit, Cole, join the party already), a letter, and the Lord Seeker's Key, as well as a generous amount of loot in a chest. You can use the Key to open a door down and to the right of the Lord Seeker's room, within which you can find a note, the Red Lyrium Codex entry (if you hadn't gotten it before), some loot, and the all-important Lyrium Cache.
- Go back outside. Head for the eastern-most door along the northern wall to find a darkened room. Climb the scaffolding in here to discover a battle between Knight-Lieutenant Primmer and more Red Templars. Help a dude out, then head west through the walls to find a path back to the Great Hall. If you check the opposite side of the ramparts before doing this you'll find a wall you can bash open to find some loot, though the drop to get it will hurt.
- Return to the Great Hall and talk to Barris. He'll begin the ceremony to stop the Envy Demon, forcing your team to protect his Templars on your own. Scores of Red Templar Horrors, Red Templars, and Red Templar Marksmen will begin to flood in from the left, and after about a minute they'll start spawning on your right as well. The Red Templars begin in a bit of a bottleneck, so setting up a tank to keep them pinned while your ranged fighters flood the baddies with AOE attacks can prove quite effective. Eventually the Red Templars will flood the area too thoroughly for this to work anymore, at which point you just need to hold on long enough for the magic barrier to disappear. Retreat up ladders if the fighting gets too intense.
- Run up the stairs in the rear of the Great Hall, to the area that was previously blocked. Near a stone statue you'll find a Supply Cache; use it to stock up on Healing Potions. Then head out of the Great Hall, to the Shrine of Offering, to face the inevitable.
Envy Demon
A highly mobile enemy, the Envy Demon is a mixture of ranged and melee attacks. When the battle begins it will teleport about the area, engaging your party close up and from afar. It is capable of panicking your team in this form, which will momentarily stun one or more party members and slow them down for a bit, and if it teleports beneath one of your characters when moving it can do quite a bit of damage. There's not much you can do about this besides heal. Do enough damage and the Envy Demon will call in a wave of Red Templars to fight you, and once they're dead it will change forms and rely more on ranged magic. Continue damaging it and the Demon will swap back to its initial behaviour, though this time fade magic eruptions will appear about the battlefield and occasionally maul your party members.
This is nevertheless not that bad a fight, so long as your team doesn't get frozen too often. The Demon does not have great defences, and it can't stand a strong battering of physical attacks - especially if you start hitting it with physical effects, such as knockdown. Get it cornered and it'll take a rather severe beating before fleeing, especially after Cole joins the fight as a guest. If you can't corner it, spread your team out to avoid too many people being panicked, and keep chipping away at the thing. The eruptions in the third phase of the fight can also hurt the Demon, so attempting to lead it into their range can be a fun (if impractical) way to end the battle.
Check the Envy Demon's loot after the battle for a host of Essences, as well as the Audacity dagger. Then approach the Templars.
Decision Time
There's one final choice to make in this quest, and that's whether you bring the Templars on as full allies or as conscripts. Which path you choose will affect relations with your party members. If you bring the Templars on as partners, Cassandra, Iron Bull, Blackwall, Vivienne, and Varric will all approve, while Solas and Sera disapprove. If you conscript them the opposite is true, though Varric doesn't really care.
Did I say one choice? Make it two. Once you return to Haven, Cole will approach the party about joining up. You can either accept him, in which case he becomes a permanent fixture of the team, or you can blow him off completely, in which case he's gone for good. Cassandra slightly disapproves if you bring him along, but Cole, obviously, greatly approves.
Part Ten: In Your Heart Shall Burn
Main Walkthrough Page