Anders

You discover Anders when you first enter Vigil's Keep; he is surrounded by dead templars and is fighting for his life against darkspawn. It would seem he's an evil apostate mage, but in truth, he just doesn't like being trapped (he'll readily fight against the darkspawn). You can ask him to join the party, or leave him there (although he will return later).

When meeting the king or queen at the end of "The Assault on Vigil's Keep" introduction, you can choose to conscript Anders as a Grey Warden (against the advice of the templars), let him be taken by the templars (but with a good word put in for him), or just let him be taken by the templars outright.

Anders at a Glance

Starting Attributes

Class

Mage

Healer : Despite his fire-roasting stunt when you first meet him, Anders makes for the best party healer. He starts with the Spirit Healer specialization with points already spent on a good healing base.

Starting Talents

Spirit Healer : Group Heal, Revival, Lifeward

Mage : Arcane Bolt, Arcane Shield

Primal : Winter's Grasp, Frost Weapons, Cone of Cold

Creation : Heal, Heroic Offense

Spirit : Walking Bomb, Mind Blast

Entropy : Weakness, Paralyze, Drain Life

Location

Vigil's Keep Interior

Unlock Condition

In the corridor off the entrance chamber in the keep interior, you meet up with Anders. He's slain some templars after him, but will gladly join your group to fight the darkspawn.

Combat Advice

If you choose Anders as your party healer, get him Rejuvenate and Regeneration as soon as possible. Spirit Healer's Cleansing Aura would be a nice addition too. Definitely upgrade Mind Blast one point to Force Field for extra defense when an ally nears death. Once you reach level 20, invest in the Mage school's Fade Shield chain, especially for the mighty Time Spiral at level 28 which can reset all your healing cooldowns.

In combat, leave Anders in the rear to protect him from melee. Heal at range and toss in a damage spell like Winter's Grasp or Cone of Cold if you want to speed up damage against wounded enemies. If you have a few extra points available, you may want to spec Anders into the Keeper specialization. One with Nature and its upgrade abilities can trap enemies surrounding Anders, thus keeping them off the mage during healing and slowing them down while attacking other allies.

Personal Quest

The one thing Anders wants most of all is freedom from the Circle. He had arranged with a cohort, Namaya, to get his phylactery away from the templars. When you meet with Namaya in the city of Amaranthine (see Amaranthine map in Side Quests chapter for Namaya's exact location), she tells Anders where he can find it: in a warehouse across the city.

Alas, the whole thing is a setup by the templars. There is no phylactery in Amaranthine. The templars are waiting, and if you don't give Anders to them outright, they will battle the party to the death. For more details, see "Freedom for Anders" in the "Companions" section of the Side Quest chapter.

Gifts

Anders's "plot gift" is a kitten (found in eastern section of the Vigil's Keep courtyard). His other gifts are a knitted scarf (found in the Chantry), gold earring (Vigil's Keep basement), engraved silver bracers (Kal'Hirol), a bell collar for the cat (Amaranthine), and a book on phylacteries (Silverite Mine in the Wending Wood).

Dialogue Choices

As with any companion, Anders has dialogue choices whenever you interact with him, and sometimes he will pull you aside to speak with you about a topic. However, at important points in the game, you should know about plot-specific, area-specific, and throne room-specific dialogue that could change the game for your companion.

Plot-Specific Dialogue

If Ser Tamra doesn't speak to the player about the growing conspiracy for the "A Brewing Conspiracy" side quest, Anders will have the same information for you during the fealty ceremony. After you give Anders the gift kitten, the Ser Pounce-a-Lot item will appear in your inventory. If you interact with this item with Anders in the party, you will hear Anders talking to the kitten.

Area-Specific Dialogue

Anders has a conversation related to the statue of Andraste (there are two in the game: he talks about the one in Vigil's Keep after you upgrade the walls), a tree in the city of Amaranthine, and the lyrium basket in the Trade Quarter of Kal'Hirol. You can gain serious approval bumps if you sympathize with Anders about his hopes for freedom and dislike for authority.

Throne Room-Specific Dialogue

Anders may tell you about the Circle Tower's cat, which relates to the kitten gift you can present to him. This results in a positive approval bump. After you complete Anders's personal quest and save him from the templars' trap, Anders may tell you that you're an "all right" sort for sticking by him. This results in a positive approval bump.

Crisis Moment

Anders does not have a specific crisis moment. You can only reach a crisis with Anders through poor approval rating. You can beg him to stay when you first hit the approval low point, but he will definitely leave the second time.