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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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Redcliffe 
Redcliffe Village  |  Castle Redcliffe - Level 1  |  Castle Redcliffe - Level 2  |  Chanter's Board  |  Mages' Collective  | 

REDCLIFFE VILLAGE

Prince Alistair

I arrive in Redcliffe, which prompts a cutscene whereby Alistair reveals himself as the reluctant heir to the throne of Ferelden.

A Village under Siege

I go on ahead to the nearby bridge. Tomas brings me to the Chantry in Redcliffe. I fall in with Bann Teagan's request to help Redcliffe against a coming attack by undead once the sun falls.

The video concludes with me giving the lockbox to Jetta in order to complete Missionary Rigby's quest.

A Missing Child

A girl named Kaitlyn is standing near the door to the Chantry. I speak with her and learn that her brother is missing.

I leave the Chantry. Kaitlyn's house is just to the right. I go inside, and then approach the closet. It won't take much to convince Kaitlyn's brother, Bevin, to come out. The ensuing conversation is easier if you can make Persuasion or Intimidation checks. I learn about his father's sword, and then convince him both to give me the key to its chest, and to return to the Chantry. I then go upstairs, unlock the chest, and obtain the Green Blade (+10% nature resistance, +6 damage vs. beasts). I have no use for the sword, but it will sell for a little bit of gold.

The video concludes with me going back to the Chantry to speak to Kaitlyn and get an xp reward.

Owen

I now speak to Murdock, who's in the town square. He wants me to convince Owen the Blacksmith to start repairing the weapons and armor for the militia.

Owen's house is just a little to the north and east of Murdoch. I loot a Deathroot and a chest just outside the house. I then use a Persuasion check to convince Owen to let me inside of the house. Once inside, only a promise to look for his missing daughter will suffice to convince Owen to begin the repairs.

There is a covered trapdoor in the house as well. Owen doesn't mind me looting it as I've already promised to look for his daughter. If I were to try and access the trapdoor without the promise, Owen would have forced me to kill him. Note that this is one way to get the Far Song later on.

The video concludes with me giving Murdoch the good news.

The Dwarven Veteran

Murdock's next job for me is to convince a Dwarven warrior named Dwyn to join the militia. Dwyn's house is almost due east of Murdock. Kicking the door in suffices to gain entry.

Paying silver as a mercenary fee can work to get Dwyn to join the militia. A Persuasion or Intimidation check works as well.

Stiff Drink to Dull the Pain

I head over to the local tavern, looting a Deathroot and a chest along the way. The tavern itself is the focal point for a quest, for which there are multiple solutions.

First, I speak to Bella, who's in a fairly bad predicament. I could address her situation by giving her money to leave, or suggesting a better option like becoming a maid in the castle. But I put if off for now, because I have what I view as the most personally beneficial way of resolving the quest in mind.

I then speak with the militia, who want to get drunk in order to raise up their courage for the coming battle against the undead. Problem is, coin is scarce and Lloyd is being cheap with his ale.

I click on the graffiti on the bar to get 50xp and a Codex entry. I now speak with Lloyd. Again, there are multiple pathways. I can pay for the drinks, or kill him, or Persuade him to give free drinks to the Militia. My preference is to Intimidate him into joining in the defense of Redcliffe. This is optimum in my view, because I'll have another hand for the Attack at Nightfall, plus I'll get a magic ring afterwards.

Bella becomes the new owner of the tavern, and she give free drinks to the militia.

Spy!

Sitting in the tavern is an Elven spy named Berwick, who's in the employ of Arl Howe. Learning his name beforehand from either Bella or Lloyd can make confronting him easier, as does making a Persuasion or Intimidation check. Leliana steals the letter from his pocket, which works just as well when I confront him with it. He soon fesses up. I then convince him to join in the defense of Redcliffe.

The Maker's Shield

I begin to speak with Ser Perth, who's near the windmill at the north side of the village. He wants me to persuade Revered Mother Hannah to give him divine protection from the Maker for the coming battle. When I speak to Mother Hannah in the Chantry, she explains that she cannot. I could use a Persuasion check to convince her to give amulets to the Knights to increase their morale (although it doesn't actually), but I prefer not to. This loses approval with Leliana. I explain to Ser Perth that Hannah is unable to fulfill their request. I still get an xp reward for this anyway.

I could, if I were inclined to, get barrels of Oil from the general store at the docks and bring them to Ser Perth. This will create a flaming wall at the path that undead will come down during the Attack at Nightfall. My advice is not to, since the fire is just as likely to burn the Knights as the undead.

Attack at Nightfall

There will be two distinct and massive fights here, the first wave of undead at the top of the hill, and then the second wave in the village square below.

My goal is to win both fights with everybody, including the Knights and village Militia, alive. There is more than one reason for this. One reason is that it greatly increases the chances of my own survival. The more knights and militia that are standing up, the more they take the heat off of my party and help me bring the undead down. There is also more experience points and a helm to be had as a reward if I keep everyone alive.

There are two key abilities that I use to pull this off. One is Leliana's Captivating Song. Whenever the undead become an especially numerous crowd, Leliana will plant herself right in the thick of things and activate the Song. This will keep many of the undead stunned, interrupt their attacks, and make them sitting ducks not just for her party members but also for her Wolf and the villagers.

The other key ability is Wynne's Cleansing Aura. Cleansing Aura will not only passively heal the party members, but the other defenders as well. Wynne of course also keeps track of everyone's health (by an admittedly tedious process of periodically running the mouse point over everyone), party members, and Redcliffe Knights and Militia alike, and uses Heal or Lifeward on anyone who is getting low on health. Before the battle starts, I have Wynne temporarily tweak her Tactics script so that Spell Wisp gets replaced with the Cleansing Aura, and her Rock Armor gets de-activated. I want to enlarge my mana pool for the operation of Cleansing Aura and the use of Heal spells over the long haul. Spellpower will have no bearing on this fight, and neither will Rock Armor as long as I can avoid Wynne earning any aggro. I only keep Cleansing Aura active, as well as two more sustainables that will help the party bring down the undead faster, Haste and Flaming Weapons. Wynne will also gulp a Lyrium potion when the Cleansing Aura has nearly drained all of her Mana.

You'll notice at one point I had to deal with a distraction on account of Lloyd, who went off by himself north of the town square. I had Wynne kill the single undead who was fighting Lloyd so that Lloyd could regroup with the party.

Bann Teagan gives me the Helm of the Red (+1 Dexterity, +10% fire resistance) as a reward for keeping everyone alive. I have no use for the Helm either, since I have different ideas for Aldarion and all of his companions. But I do sell it.

Lloyd's Magic Ring

First, I go back inside the Chantry. I give Kaitlyn 5 gp so that she and Bevin can join family in Denerim. This is purely a roleplaying decision on my part.

I then go to the tavern and speak with Lloyd. He gives me Lloyd's Magic Ring (+2 Strength, -1 Cunning). This will be Sten's other ring for the rest of the game, and it is indeed consistent with his role as a maximum damage character.

Lady Isolde

Now I head back to the entrance to the windmill. I have a fairly lengthy discussion with Bann Teagan and Lady Isolde. They both depart for the Castle, but not before Bann Teagan informs me of a secret path into Castle Redcliffe, which is inside the windmill. Note that I didn't loot the chest in the mill, as the chest is relevant to a side quest that I won't do until much later on.


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