Shale

Shale at a Glance

Starting Attributes

Shale’s starting attributes scale depending on what level you get the golem at.

Class

Warrior

Main Tank or DPS: The burly Shale can step in for other tanks such as Alistair if you prefer stone to steel. As a warrior, Shale has full access to the standard Warrior school talents, but doesn't know any of the weapon talents, which means it'll be without Weapon and Shield. Instead, Shale comes with its own set of 16 individual talents that can help the golem play defense as a tank or crush opponents with DPS.

Available Talents

Warrior: Powerful, Threaten, Bravery, Death Blow, Precise Striking, Taunt, Disengage, Perfect Striking

Shale: Pulverizing Blows, Slam, Quake, Killing Blow; Stoneheart, Bellow, Stone Roar, Regenerating Burst; Rock Mastery, Hurl Rock, Earthen Grasp, Rock Barrage; Stone Aura, Inner Reserves, Renewed Assault, Supernatural Resilience

Location

Village of Honnleath

Unlock Condition

After you leave Lothering, journey to Sulcher's Pass and get the golem control rod from Felix. Travel to the Village of Honnleath and follow the clues to discovering Shale's activation phrase.

Crafted by the ancient dwarves as their first line of defense against the darkspawn, the dread sentinels known as golems dwindled in number after the art of their creation was lost. Shale, one of the few golems remaining, was found in the Deep Roads, reactivated and brought to the surface, and may prove to be the Grey Wardens' most effective weapon against the onslaught of the Blight.

New Golem Talents

Shale serves dual purposes: the party's main tank or a heavy melee damage-dealer. If you want Shale to take over as your main tank, concentrate on the Stoneheart chain first. Stoneheart activates Shale's defensive talents and increases the golem's threat. Bellow increases Shale's threat and has a chance to stun nearby enemies if they fail a mental resistance check. Stone Roar gains a health regeneration bonus for Shale and attracts the attention of a single targeted enemy, who will veer toward Shale immediately (great for pulling foes off allies). Regenerating Burst damages and possibly stuns nearby enemies, plus it increases stamina regeneration and threat generation.

The Stone Aura chain supports a Shale tank strategy. Stone Aura imbues nearby party members with bonuses to attack, defense, and health regeneration. It provides excellent party buffs; however, the sustained ability paralyzes Shale and imposes a personal penalty to defense as well as draining stamina. Inner Reserves beefs up Shale's armor, and party members within Stone Aura receive additional bonuses to armor, health regeneration, stamina regeneration, and spellpower. Renewed Assault further increases Shale's armor and ability to resist hostile spells, and party members within the aura gain bonuses to attack, stamina regeneration, critical chance, and armor penetration. Plus, enemies within the aura suffer penalties to movement speed, attack, and defense. Supernatural Resilience gives more bonuses to armor and the ability to resist hostile spells. Party members within the aura gain additional bonuses to health regeneration, spellpower, damage, and to resist hostile spells.

If you'd rather have Shale deal damage than suck up damage, first concentrate on the golem's Pulverizing Blows chain. Pulverizing Blows activates Shale's offensive talents, taking a penalty to defense in exchange for a bonus to damage. Slam swings at a nearby enemy and, if it connects, automatically generates a critical hit and knocks the target back. Quake hits nearby enemies with an AoE that damages and knocks them back. Killing Blow smashes a target with a critical hit (if it connects) and extra damage equal to Shale's remaining stamina, which drains away after the blow.

Shale's final chain beginning with Rock Mastery supports a DPS orientation and gives Shale more ranged options. Rock Mastery activates the golem's ranged talents and gains a large bonus against incoming ranged attacks, though at a penalty to defense, armor, and melee critical chance. Nearby party members also gain bonuses to ranged critical chance and ranged attack speed. Hurl Rock throws a stone projectile at a targeted area and all enemies near the point of impact take physical damage and may be knocked down. Earthen Grasp immobilizes enemies unless they pass a physical resistance check. Rock Barrage throws multiple rocks into the air, which rain down on a targeted area and inflict movement penalties and knock down anyone within if they fail a physical resistance check.

Highlights

• You can only find Shale in a special downloadable quest that takes you into the midst of a darkspawn horde and through the tunnels of a secret mage laboratory.
• Shale can be a dynamo in combat, either as a huge tank or a brawling DPSer.
• Golems don't use regular equipment. Instead, you plug magic crystals into them to power them up.
• With 16 new golem-only talents, Shale can aid in melee damage, defense, ranged combat, and party buffing.
• Shale may have some anger management issues, but the golem's dry wit can leave you in stitches. Well, so can its fists if you aren't careful.

Personal Quest

After you free Shale from imprisonment in the Village of Honnleath, take the golem with you when you attempt the "Paragon of Her Kind" quest in Orzammar's Deep Roads. After the encounter with Caridin in the Anvil of the Void, if you sided with Caridin over Branka or if you can Persuade Shale to stay with you after you sided with Branka, Shale will tell you about a secret Thaig, forgotten in the Deep Roads until now. For complete details on Cadash Thaig, see the "Stone Prisoner" section of the Walkthrough chapter.

Gear

Shale doesn't put on sword, shield, and armor like other warriors. Golems rely on crystals to power up their offense and defense. Shale has two equipment slots, one for offense and one for defense. A Large Flawless Fire Crystal, for example, fits into the defensive slot and gives Shale the following abilities: 16.2 armor, 26.4% fatigue, +2 strength, +6 defense, +40% fire resistance, and +8 stamina regeneration in combat.

Crisis Moment

Reluctant as Shale is to join your party at the start, the golem will leave only if its approval rating drops too low or if you choose the mad Branka over the tormented Caridin at the end of the "Paragon of Her Kind" quest line. If you choose to fight with Branka against Caridin and Shale is in your party at the time, the golem will rebel and attack you while defending Caridin. If Shale is not in your party when you choose Branka, the golem will confront you when you return to the party camp. Unless you convince Shale to stay, the golem will leave your group permanently.

Shale's Crystals

As a stone golem, Shale doesn't use weapons and armor as the other companions; golems rely on special crystals to power up their abilities. Shale has 50 equipable crystals in the game, and you can gain them from several sources: loot drops throughout the world (PC version only); items found in the Village of Honnleath, Wilhelm's Cellar, and Cadash Thaig; and available for purchase from Garin's Gem Store in Orzammar Commons. (Each time you enter the Orzammar Commons, a random set of six crystals will generate in Garin's store inventory.)

Crystals come in two sizes: large and small. Large crystals act as armor and appear on Shale's shoulders and feet. Small crystals act as weapons and appear on Shale's fists. Each crystal comes in one of five elemental types: fire (orange), ice (white), electrical (purple), natural (green), and spirit (blue). If you match a large and small crystal of the same elemental type on Shale, the golem receives a special item set bonus. There are also five degrees of crystal quality: chipped (lowest quality), flawed, clear, flawless, brilliant (highest quality).

As with other characters' equipment, Shale's crystals dynamically scale based on the golem's level.

Gifts

There's definitely something remarkable about the objects Shale values in life. Find any of nine "remarkable" gemstones and Shale might just crack a smile on that stony golem visage.