Alistair

Alistair is the newest Grey Warden (besides the player). He's been sent to guide you and the other Grey Warden candidates through the Joining process.

Over time, the player will find out that Alistair was a templar before he was a Grey Warden, a ward of Arl Eamon of Redcliffe before that, and eventually, it will be revealed that he was the illegitimate child of King Maric and a serving girl, and thus is theoretically heir to the throne.

You meet Alistair in Ostagar after Duncan brings you to King's Camp. Alistair remains in your party until the end of the Landsmeet; you cannot ask him to leave, nor will he take offense and leave, even if your approval rating plummets. He's a fellow Grey Warden and will stick with you as long as his heart can bear it.

Alistair at a Glance

Starting Attributes

Strength: 20

Willpower: 16

Cunning: 11

Dexterity 17

Magic: 14

Constituion: 13

Class - Warrior

Recommended Build - Main Tank

Because you meet with Alistair earliest in the game, and he's already fully vested in the Weapon and Shield school, which is ideal for tanking, you can groom your fellow Grey Warden to lead the team into battle.

Stay with the tanking talents in Weapon and Shield as your priority, and you will probably keep Alistair in your active party the entire adventure.

Starting Talents

• Templar: Righteous Strike
• Warrior: Powerful
• Weapon and Shield: Shield Bash, Shield Pummel, Shield Block, Shield Cover

Location - Ostagar, King's Camp

Unlock Condition

When you arrive at Ostagar, Duncan asks you to seek out Alistair, a fellow Grey Warden. Once you talk to Alistair, he joins your party and will stay with you for the duration if you choose.

Combat Advice

Alistair will most likely be your party's tank. If your main PC happens to be a tank, and you want to switch Alistair to DPS, immediately alter his talent choices out of Weapons and Shield and into Two-Handed or Dual Weapon.

Otherwise, concentrate most of your early talent points on the Warrior school (Threaten, Taunt) and Weapons and Shield to make sure he can hold threat and absorb lots of damage from enemy attacks.

In melee, Overpower and Assault should be staple offensive talents for Alistair, while Shield Tactics is crucial to avoid flanking damage.

If Alistair is your tank, he will charge smaller enemy groups, unless you have an ambush staged. Give him a few moments to build up threat, and he should always bash the most dangerous target so that target doesn't go in search of someone else.

Don't stress over damage output with Alistair; his job is to hold the enemies and suck up damage while the party's DPS-oriented members chop them down.

Load Alistair with the best medium or heavy armor available (possibly even better than the armor you give the PC). He should wield a fine blade (main hand only; his off hand should hold a shield) to inflict good damage and further increase threat against his targets.

In his secondary weapon slot, give Alistair a crossbow for long-range combat. Your healer will usually target Alistair for heals, but just in case, you should always keep a good supply of health poultices for emergencies.

Romance

Romantically speaking, Alistair prefers women to men. However, that doesn't stop Zevran from hitting on him. Alistair is demure and inexperienced, and will likely shy away the first time you proposition him, but he'll eventually join you in your tent when he adores the player sufficiently.

Alistair wants to feel that he is special to the player, that he is necessary; he responds well to flirting, to talk of love, and to perhaps a bit of bossiness on the player's part ("Just follow my lead, Alistair.").

He responds very badly to being mocked, particularly in intimate moments. Alistair's approval increases are generally very small because there are so many ways to gain them.

To romance him as a female PC, get Alistair to tell you about his past as a templar. Mention how handsome he is, or tell him you like him for who he is, or any one of many choices.

He's not that hard. After he's interested, ask him to join you in your tent at camp. If he's interested, and you're very gentle, he will say yes.

At the Pearl in Denerim, there is a duelist named Isabela who is acquainted with Zevran. If you are in a romance with Alistair and bring him to the Pearl, and you have hardened Alistair's personality, he will join you in a threesome if that's something you're into.

Crisis Moment

Certain game choices will force a companion to reconsider you as their ally. For Alistair, at the end of the Landsmeet you have a choice to mete out justice to Loghain or allow him to join your group to defeat the archdemon.

If you let him join your group, Alistair will be appalled and leave the party for good. The only way to keep Alistair is to punish Loghain for his crimes.

Dialogue Choices

As with any companion, Alistair 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 and camp-specific dialogue that could change the game for your companion.

Plot-Specific Dialogue

• Alistair has dialogue in the Fade and dialogue for the "Captured" quest in Denerim.
• He has dialogue to discuss Anora and the player's preference for how he should handle the throne.
• He has Arl Eamon–related dialogue (see the Camp-Specific Dialogue section).
• Alistair can be convinced to sleep with Morrigan during the final battle to save the lives of the Grey Wardens while killing the archdemon. If you are still in love with/care about/are friends with him, be sure to reiterate this, or ask for his trust; remind him that it will save your life. Ask him, "What if there were a way to avoid dying tomorrow?" It will be easiest if you lie to him. Don't tell him there's a child involved, but try not to play on his distrust of Morrigan too much; avoid the questions as much as possible. Ask him to trust you, or tell him that you believe it's the right thing to do. This is slightly easier if he is changed during his personal quest to meet his sister.

Camp-Specific Dialogue

• Alistair will initiate conversation in camp a number of times:
• After cutscenes about the dragon (dreams the player is having), he'll tell you how Grey Wardens feel and how they see the darkspawn and the archdemon in their dreams. At one point, darkspawn will attack after one of these dreams.
• Alistair will ask to talk about what happened at Redcliffe with Connor and Isolde. If you killed Connor or Isolde, he will be upset and you will lose 20 approval points.
• If Alistair is in love with you and you have yet to ask him to sleep with you, he will initiate the conversation, and ask you to have sex with him. It's very sweet and romantic. You can, of course, turn him down at this point.
• Alistair's crisis mode will be initiated in camp. He won't leave you, but he will want to talk about it.
• All sex-related dialogue with Alistair is in camp, naturally, except the threesome with Isabela (see the Romance section).

Personal Quest

From the beginning in Ostagar, keep talking to Alistair whenever he has anything new to say. Ask him about the Joining after going through it, ask him about the Grey Wardens, etc. Eventually, he talk about his sister Goldanna if you adhere to the following steps:

• He'll reveal he has a sister if his approval rating is warm or higher, and he has told you the truth about his family background.
• In Denerim at her house, he'll recognize the door (it's the door next to Wade's Emporium in the market district).
• Go in and talk to his sister, Goldanna. She is rude and heartless, asking for money and offering none of the familial affection for which Alistair was hoping. Afterward, you can calm Alistair down, or harden him up.
• If you calm him down, he'll continue to be a nice guy. It will become much harder to convince him to become king at the Landsmeet, either with or without Anora or yourself at his side.
• If you want to harden him, select the dialogue option, ""Everyone is out for themselves. You should learn that." When you talk to Alistair next, so long as you don't say, "That's not what I meant. Don't do that!" Alistair will be changed. This will make it easier to convince Alistair to take the position as king, with or without Anora or yourself as queen. It will also make it easier to engage in a threesome with Isabela (see the Romance section).

Gifts

Alistair's Mother's Amulet and Duncan's Shield will each initiate a specific conversation with Alistair, in which it is possible to gain further approval. Duncan's Shield will also be transformed into a real object and equipped on Alistair's person, once given.

The part of the Market Warehouse that holds the shield will not open up until after the Landsmeet plot begins; it is part of a Denerim side quest.

Highlights

• Alistair may teach the templar talents if he warms up to the PC.
• Alistair is sweet, funny, and cute, and has an excellent voice. He likes a bit of teasing, and occasionally doesn't mind being ordered about. Unless hardened, he is very uncomfortable with the idea of being in command, and will surrender to your will even though he is the senior Grey Warden.
• Alistair loved Duncan like a father; say nice things about him to gain his approval.
• Isolde may not have been kind to Alistair, but that doesn't mean he wants her or her son dead. Killing either Connor or Isolde in the Arl Eamon plot will mean a large decrease in his approval rating, no matter how much they might deserve it. You can, however, make a deal with the demon inside of Connor to become a blood mage and avoid the approval penalty (see the "Arl of Redcliffe" walkthrough).
• Alistair is fairly religious and poisoning Andraste's ashes will not go over well with him (see the "Urn of Sacred Ashes" section of the walkthrough).
• Alternately, sparing Loghain's life at the end of the Landsmeet will not go over well. King or no, Alistair will leave the party forever if you let Loghain live as a Grey Warden.
• He's the illegitimate son of King Maric! If you romance him (and you are a human), you could potentially be queen!