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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 |
Redcliffe | Denerim | Fort Drakon | The End |
DENERIM
The War Begins
Here is the cutscene of Aldarion and Alistair leading the armies of Ferelden to the gates of Denerim, which has been sacked by the Darkspawn.
Storming the Gates
Now I have to clear the city gates of any Darkspawn. This is pretty much a chance to see what all your companions are capable of, since the Darkspawn are all grunt-level and the companions will be operating on their own scripts.
Farewells to the Grey Warden
Here is where everyone gives their farewells to Aldarion, before the party passes through the gates and into Denerim itself.
Defending the Market District
I choose to go to the Market first. The reason why will be explained soon. The Market District will now have plenty of Ogres, and sometimes you may have to fight three or four of them at once. A new theme for dealing with Ogres gets shown here. Sometimes Leliana will start to hit an Ogre from afar with her bow, which earns her 'aggro'. But her combination of The Far Song + the Repeater Gloves means she brings its health down quite substantially. While the Ogre makes for Leliana, Alistair and Aldarion will begin to whack at it. Alistair's use of the Threaten sustained ability in combination with his standard attacks means that the 'aggro' changes from Leliana to Alistair. The net result is that the Ogre will be close to dying and will not have done anything on the way to that condition. It's kind of like playing tag with the Ogre.
Towards the south end of the District will be the Hurlock General. I deal with him using the same method. He'll leave behind a couple of random item, plus two set drops. One of the set drops is the Axe of the Vashoth (+1 Strength, +2 Willpower, +1 damage), which I won't have much use for. The other item is a helmet called Corruption (+5 Dexterity, +1 armor, +75% spirit resistance), which is just perfect for Aldarion. The bonus to spirit resistance will especially come in handy when he faces the Archdemon.
Defending the Alienage
Now I travel to the Alienage. Shianni warns me that Darkspawn are about to break through the gate, and then promptly flees. Leliana trains her bow on the Ogre once it smashes the gate down. Aldarion weakens the Hurlock General, who is an Emissary, with Mana Clash. Wynne thereafter holds up the General with a Fireball, and then a Glyph of Paralysis. This buys the party time to finish off the Ogre, and then close in on the General. After that most of the Darkspawn will be Grunts that can be killed in one or two blows, so I don't need to do anything special like crowd control or cloud-damage spells. The General will leave behind a few random items, plus the Malign Staff (+5 spellpower, +2 Mana regeneration, -1 Willpower, +10% spirit damage, +10% electrical damage). Certainly a worthy staff, but I'm already set.
I speak to Shianni again, and she rewards me with the Dawn Ring (+4 Strength, -1 Cunning). This is the second ring of the Imperium Rings set that Zevran will wear.
The video ends with the Archdemon destroying the bridge behind me as I make my way to the gate at the other end of the Darkspawn incursion. This effectively cuts me off from the Market District and forces me to head for the Palace District, which is why I recommend going to the Market District first before the Alienage.
Holding the Gates
The scene now shifts back to the city gates. The reason I picked Morrigan as the leader was so she could quarterback holding the gates against another Darkspawn incursion. I also quickly have Zevran equip the Dawn Ring in order to complete the Imperium Rings set, even if it's just for one battle.
As for the battle itself, suffice it to say I give first priority to taking down the Ogre Alpha. Morrigan makes generous use of her spells, and also shows a workaround for when she's low on Health. It's easy enough to simply shut down Blood Magic, and then gulp down a Health Poultice. She can simply restart Blood Magic once the cooldown period has elapsed. At one point a powerful Hurlock Emissary shows up. Morrigan deals with him by hitting him with Blood Wound, which holds both him and all the surrounding Darkspawn still with lingering spirit damage. This buys time for Sten, Shale, and Zevran to close in and finish off the Emissary. Morrigan grabs the opportunity for another Blood Wound when she can hit enough Darkspawn with it. She then uses the time to take Insect Swarm form, which allows her to bring down her enemies with nature damage. She also will not take any damage to her Health so long as she has enough Mana to absorb enemy attacks. The battle is soon won, and Morrigan reports success to the Messenger.
Riordan Falls
And here is the cutscene where Riordan attempts to kill the Archdemon himself, only to fall to his death.
Palace District
Now I have to fight my way through a LOT of Darkspawn in the palace district. A few tactical themes are used here, including:
Fort Drakon is next.
