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Dragon Age: Origins Nightmare Guide by David Milward


INTRO & ABOUT  |  CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES  |  EQUIPPING CHARACTERS  |  COMBAT GUIDELINES  |  CHARACTERS
Areas in Order of Appearance:  
Origins  |  Ostagar  |  Lothering  |  Circle Tower  |  Warden's Keep (DLC)  |  Return to Ostagar (DLC)  |  Stone Prisoner (DLC)  |  Brecilian Forest  |  Redcliffe  |  The Urn of Sacred Ashes  |  Orzammar  |  Deep Roads  |  Denerim  |  Final Onslaught  
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Brecilian Forest: 
Dalish Camp  |  West Brecilian Forest  |  East Brecilian Forest  |  Upper Brecilian Ruins  
Lower Brecilian Ruins  |  Werewolves' Lair  |  Random Encounters  |  Mages' Treasure  |  Leliana's Quest  |  Wynne's Quest  

WEREWOLVES' LAIR

Shadow Wolves

The first little bit of the video involves me collecting a few Corpse Galls, since they'll come in handy during a later quest.

The next fight can be a little tricky, since there will be a lot of Werewolves just on the other side of the door and they can burst through very quickly. They also include Shadow Wolves that can sneak up while invisible and go for extra damage attacks. Crowd-control won't work very well, because they have very good physical resistance. The way I win this battle is to have Wynne use Earthquake anyway. The point is precisely for Wynne to earn herself a lot of Aggro. The Werewolves will all converge on her. Once they start to close in, Aldarion encases Wynne in a Force Field. The Werewolves' waste all their attacks on her harmlessly. The rest of the party meanwhile has a free hand to go to work. There are only about three Werewolves left once the Force Field expires. Wynne exercises caution and casts Life Ward on herself. It's only a matter of time before the remaining Werewolves fall.

For the next bunch of Werewolves, I hang back to avoid setting off any traps and let them come to me. The remainder of the video consists of me going around looting the containers and gradually making my way south.

The Lady of the Forest

The video begins with me once again encountering Gatekeeper. Keep in mind that if you want to pick a fight with him then and there, you will get swarmed by a LOT of Werewolves (including Shadow Wolves) from all sides, all of whom are capable of inflicting lots of damage and using Overwhelm. Such a fight can be brutal even for high level parties, and even when using abilities like Waking Nightmare or Captivating Song.

I made a roleplaying choice to listen to the Lady of the Forest. There are still some roleplaying choices at this point. I could try to kill her then and there. However, this fight will be even worse than the one against Gatekeeper since the Lady will transform into Witherfang and join the fight. Witherfang is basically a superpowered Wolf who inflicts a lot of damage, can stun multiple party members with its Howl ability, and can kill a party member outright with Overwhelm. It also has lots of health, and regenerates rapidly. Should you pull it off, Witherfang's corpse can be looted for the Heart of the Forest, the quest item that Zathrian wants, as well as an amulet called the Heart of Witherfang (+1 Strength, +1 Magic, +50% nature resistance). Zathrian will then reward you with a Battleaxe called Griffon's Beak (+4 damage vs. Darkspawn). If the Griffon's Beak is later combined with Griffon's Helm (found in Duncan's Vault later on), it will grant the wielder immunity to getting flanked. Choosing to kill Witherfang wins approval with Morrigan and Oghren, but loses it with Leliana, Shale, and Wynne.

For those of you so inclined, you could then make two high-level Persuasion checks to convince the Lady of the Forest to exterminate the Dalish Elves. If you commit to this course of action, Zathrian is clearly the most dangerous opponent as he casts a lot of spells, including the cold spells like Blizzard and Cone of Cold. You can, however, end it very quickly by going after him first and foremost while ignoring everybody else. The unique rewards that will be available from the corpses of the Dalish will include:

Going this route will win approval with Morrigan, but lose it with Wynne and Zevran.

Be that as it may, I fall in with the Lady's request to attempt to reason with Zathrian and persuade him to end the curse. She beckons to a door due east of her. The video concludes with me searching nearby sarcophagi for random items.

Shamas Goodson, Fifth Corpsewalker

I don't take the Lady's suggested path right away. I go north and start looting some of the containers in the side rooms. Some chests I can't open right away, but I can always come back when I've upped Leliana's Cunning score.

One of the side rooms has a Black Vial that releases a Revenant, and this follows the same formula. I use Heal, Lifeward, and Group Heal as often as needed to outpace its damage. I don't hold back on Health Poultices when the cooldowns for the healing spells have not yet elapsed.

Now I make for Zathrian through the shortcut that's east of the Lady of the Forest.

Nature of the Beast

I move ahead east and then speak with Zathrian. What soon follows is a meeting between the party, Zathrian, and the Lady of the Forest. The conversation provides another opportunity to kill Witherfang, but now with the help of Zathrian and the creatures that he summons. If you're determined to kill Witherfang, it may be advisable to wait until Zathrian joins you. The in-game consequences (i.e. rewards, companion approval) will otherwise be the same.

However, I now make a roleplaying decision to end the Werewolf curse. Such a choice wins approval with Alistair, Leliana, and Wynne, but would have lost approval with Oghren and Morrigan had they been present. Zathrian summons a whole bunch of Wild Sylvans and Greater Shades to his aid, and starts off paralyzing Witherfang / Lady of the Forest and the rest of the Werewolves from the outset. This could mean a really tough battle. The easy way for me to do it is to have Alistair free Witherfang and the Werewolves with Cleanse Aura. They would then go all out for Zathrian, ending the battle in rather short order. However, I want to rack up the experience for killing all of Zathrian's minions. This also means going the distance and doing things the hard way. I therefore have Alistair, Aldarion, and Leliana go around killing them one by one. Wynne keeps Cleansing Aura active in addition to her usual healing abilities. She also keeps an eye on Zathrian. One of Zathrian's key dangers is Blizzard. When a meter runs over top of Zathrian, Wynne takes that as a cue to hit him with a Stone Fist and prevent the casting of Blizzard over top the party. He gets back up and does get off the Blizzard the next time, but this time it's over top the paralyzed Werewolves so I'm still free to go to work. It's only a matter of time before Zathrian is left by himself and vulnerable to getting overwhelmed by my party.

The climax is a relatively happy ending. I could, if I were so inclined, press Swiftrunner into showing gratitude by giving me Swiftrunner's Shield (+10% nature resistance, +10% spirit resistance) but I decided not to as a matter of roleplaying.

The Dalish Pledge their Allegiance

And this video is where the new Keeper of the Dalish, Lanaya, pledges her aid against the Blight.

Now it's time for some random encounters.




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