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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 |
Ostagar | Korcari Wilds | Joining the Grey Wardens | Tower of Ishal |
TOWER OF ISHAL
The Tower of Ishal - Level One
Aldarion by now has the Telekinetic Weapons talent, and I have him scripted to keep it up as a sustained ability so that Alistair and the other soldiers always do more damage with each attack. The damage really adds up in the course of the battles.
The first battle once you enter the Tower can be tricky and requires a little foresight. Don't rush into it, otherwise you'll spring a trap and be exposed to three Hurlock Archers and a Genlock Emissary while you're still knocked down. Instead, I had Alistair step forward just to bring the Hurlock foot soldiers in view and lead them into the room where my party members lay in ambush.
After that, my next priority is to take out the Emissary. Since there are less Darkspawn, I don't mind risking the trap to rush him. Once I close in I have my shield-wielding warriors knock him down, and then kill him. After that, it's a matter of mopping up on the Hurlock Archers.
But I still have to be careful. Aldarion hides behind the central pillar in order to minimize the number of times he gets hit when it becomes obvious that the archers are singling him out. He then protects himself with a Force Field when his Health is getting low. This tactic in turn buys time for the warriors to wrack up the damage on the Archers.
The next battle, at 2:35, can be tricky because you'll get swarmed from 2 sides if you try to charge in. First off, don't rush in through the door. Let them come to you. My approach was to have Alistair lure them into the central room. Aldarion then unleashes a Cone of Cold once several of them are in a line together. It still takes work though.
It turns out that several Darkspawn have surrounded the party, but Aldarion has an ace up his sleeve. The Mind Blast spell may stun for only a short time, but with enough damage output the party can reduce the number of enemies.
Telekinetic Weapons complements the use of Mind Blast, because it means Alistair and the other Soldiers inflict more damage and cut the Darkspawn down faster. Not quite before the stun effect wears off, but at least one of them is down by that time.
The remainder of the video consists me of going through the remaining rooms, killing off Darkspawn with standard tactics, and then making my way to the stairs leading up to the next level.
The Tower of Ishal - Level Two
The first fight involves a familiar theme, Alistair leading the Darkspawn foot soldiers away from the archers, and into an ambush of my own. Aldarion exercises a little patience and then nails several incoming Hurlocks with a Cone of Cold. More spells and the warriors' attacks are used to take out the frozen Hurlocks as quickly as possible.
I then charge the room to the right. There will be two groups of Genlock Archers, three closer at hand and another three at the far east end of the room. Aldarion gets himself into position to get all three of the first group with a Cone of Cold. This means, however, that he is drawing missile fire from the other three Archers that are further back. Therefore, he protects himself with Force Field.
This sequence buys the fighters time to kill the front three that have been frozen, and then charge the back three. There will be a Codex Entry for the History of the Chantry: Part I at the west end of the room.
The Tower of Ishal - Level Three
I clear out the third level using what should be by now standard themes and tactics. I could make things easier by hitting the lever to set the Mabari Hounds free, but I don't want to lose any xp should the hounds score any of the killing blows.
Note that Aldarion chooses the Traps skill when he advances to his 6th level. The reason, of course, is so that he can exploit the Traps are a Girl's Best Friend quest in Lothering repeatedly.
The Ogre
This can be a tough battle during Nightmare. Here's what the Ogre can do:
One motif to keep in mind is to not hold back on Health Poultices, even for your temporary party members. The more characters you have to damage the Ogre, the better it will be for you. Don't hold back on Lyrium Potions for your mage either if you run out of mana.
Aldarion is actually pretty circumspect about when he casts spells, reserving his mana for the occasions when it's truly needed. For example, when the Ogre grabs one of the Tower Guards, Aldarion positions himself so that he can unleash a Cone of Cold that will affect only the Ogre and interrupt the Grab attack. It didn't work, but the subsequent Winter's Grasp spell did interrupt the Grab attack. This meant that the Tower Guard could recover with a Health Poultice and stay in action.
Another occasion is when the Ogre targets Aldarion himself. Aldarion then simply protects himself with a Force Field, allowing the warriors to chip away at the Ogre almost for free.
At some point the end is near, so I'm not too concerned if the Ogre happens to kill one of the random soldiers in my party. Their time in my party is almost done anyway. Alistair lands the killing blow. Alistair scores an interim shield, Havard's Aegis (+4% spell resistance, chance to avoid missile attacks).
Betrayal at Ostagar
Here of course is the famous cutscene where Teyrn Loghain betrays King Cailan.
Aldarion and Alistair are shot down with arrows, but then wake to find themselves in Flemeth's Hut.
