How to Use This Guide

Welcome to the world of Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening !

Our job is to keep you alive and to maximise your playing experience, so with that in mind, we're going to run through the basics in this chapter. Master the essentil concepts and ground rules first, then add layers of strategy and tactics to your favourite class and the world will be safe from darkspawn until the last Grey Warden takes his final breath.

Dragon Age, Origins is back with a vengeance, and that vengeance taps into the darkspawn's renewed strength as they rise up to threaten the Grey Wardens' new foothold on the land. With an expansion this vast, you need a guide that's fat with advice, stats, maps and expert tips to master your new Amanthine adventures. Look no farther - you've found it all here...

Basics

Learn how to navigate Amaranthine and the surrounding lands. Explore important game terms such as experience points, levelling, races, classes, skills, talents and more. Suit up for combat with some fundamental strategy and tips, and study up on how to best spend your points during character generation.

Classes

A Grey Warden can train in the talents of a warrior or a rogue, or tap into the spells of a mage. All three can decimate darkspawn; it's just about whether you want to have fun smashing hurlocks with sword and shield, slashing out of the shadows with twin daggers, or torching possessed corpses with fireballs. Master all three with our special levelling class guides that include specs on a tank, melee DPS, ranged DPS, healer, mage DPS, scout and more.

The Party

Chaotic free-for-alls will see you to an early grave. We show you the dos and don'ts of party combat, and the best engagement strategies for solo creatures, big mobs, boss fights and ambushes. Comb through this chapter and you'll master group dynamics, threat, combat roles, engagement strategies and tactics, among many other things.

Companions

Get into the minds of your trusted companions, learning what secrets they can teach you. Find out how to unlock them all for your party and how to make each the ultimate combatant. Companions covered include: Anders (mage), Justice (warrior), Mhairi (warrior), Nathaniel Howe (rogue), Sigrun (rogue), Velanna (mage), and one faithful companion from Dragon Age: Origins

Supporting Cast

Who is the Architect? Can the Dark Wolf thwart a plot on your life? How deep is the baroness's cruelty?The lands of Amaranthine aren't just about you and your companions; hundreds of lively non-playing characters (NPCs) interact with you and shape this new region. This chapter takes a peak at the most important faces around the land.

Equipment

Gear up with complete specs on all the new Awakening weapons, armor, accessories, gifts, runes, crafting and usable items, and more.

The Bestiary

Dragons, genlocks, hurlocks, ogres and more return from Dragon Age: Origins . Uncover all the secrets of returning denizens, plus all the new Awakening creatures, in our complete Bestiary chapter.

Walkthroughs

Everything you wanted to know about your Grey Warden quests is here, including super-detailed maps, runthroughs of every major encounter, boss strategies, treasure locations and even where to find the resources to build Vigil's Keep into a massive fortress.

Side Quests

To score some extra loot or uncover more of Awakening's secrets, seek out the side quests spread across the land from Vigil's Keep to the Dragonbone Waters. This chapter preps you on quest locations, destinations, rewards and a quick walkthrough of how to complete each quest.

Random Encouters

Travelling across the countryside isn't always a stroll in the park. You may encounter bandits, blood mages or even fen witches. Our handy random encounter runthrough lists all the encounters, triggers, important plotpoints and strategy tips on how to come out on top.

Achievements & Trophies

Who doesn't have fun collecting titles? Get the scoop on the storyline unlocks, plus what you have to do to master the eight new Awakening Achievements/Trophies.