Quests & Miscellany

The final part of the opening Destruction of Lothering quest is a typical example of the kind of quest that you will encounter in Dragon Age II: there is more than one resolution, which in turn influences a future quest in Act 1, which itself has a “reactive” consequence if you pick a particular path.

Though you can play the vast majority of the main plot quests irrespective of your role-playing decisions, there are many actions that send ripples through Dragon Age II’s three main Acts. These can range from unique follow-up quests, to ambient details such as chance encounters with individuals who you may have helped or hindered in the past. This imbues Dragon Age II with an incredible level of replay value. Though this walkthrough must necessarily offer one path through the main story, the Quests chapter details the consequences of all key branching paths and possibilities for every mission you can undertake.

Most quest start points are denoted by an exclamation mark that appears on the main map or minimap. Unless we specify otherwise, it’s a good idea to seek out and accept all offers of employment. Refusal may lead to a commission being withdrawn entirely, while you are under no obligation to complete active quests that don’t fall into the main plot category.

Miscellany

• The Codex, accessed via the Journal option at the pause menu, offers insights and information on the Dragon Age II game world. Though this stock of reading material expands automatically as you explore and interact with the people you meet, some Codex entries are collectible items that can be found in preset locations (Fig. 5). Interacting with these leads to an immediate reward of 50 XP, and a pop-up window that will offer a short text on a particular subject.
• When you use the Inventory screen, activate the Inspect option (see button instructions at the bottom of the display) to easily consider the relative merits of new weapons, armor and accessories.
• Ignoring automatic story milestones, the two potential “missable” Achievements/Trophies in the Prologue are relatively easy to acquire at a later date. You can unlock both “Nefarious” (choose Athenril) and “Mercenary” (choose Meeran) by creating a save file before approaching either prospective employer, then reload afterwards to complete the alternative option.