Oghren

You meet Oghren in Orzammar. In the first encounter, he is arguing with a dwarven nobleman about finding Branka; when the player is given permission to go into the deeps to find Branka, he asks to join you, citing particular knowledge of both Branka (his ex-wife) and the Deep Roads.

Regardless of how the plot ends, the rough-and-tumble warrior will remain with your party after the "Paragon of Her Kind" quest line is completed if the PC wishes it.

Oghren at a Glance

Starting Attributes

• Strength: 38
• Willpower: 21
• Cunning: 16
• Dexterity: 17
• Magic: 14
• Constitution: 18
• Class: Warrior

Recommended Build: DPSer or Off-Tank

In a pinch, Oghren could tank a fight in place of Alistair or the PC. If you do that, however, you negate his specialization: berserker.

The berserker talents increase damage, which fits into a DPS role, and the only way a stamina-deprived berserker can hold threat well is to out-damage everyone else.

Starting Talents

• Berserker: Berserk, Resilience, Constraint
• Warrior: Powerful, Threaten, Bravery, Death Blow
• Two-Handed: Pommel Strike, Indomitable, Stunning Blows, Sunder Arms, Shattering Blows, Sunder Armor, Mighty Blow, Powerful Swings, Two-Handed Strength, Two-Handed Sweep

Location

Orzammar

Unlock Condition

When you meet Oghren at the entrance to the Deep Roads, he will volunteer to join you and track down his lost wife, Branka.

Combat Advice

Fill out Oghren's berserker specialty and Two-Handed school as soon as you get the chance.

Odds are you can capitalize on some of the top-tier talents quickly, which will seriously increase his damage potential and make him an excellent DPS addition to your party. As with rogues, Oghren should allow the tank to control enemy mobs and then attack from the rear or flank.

Because Oghren is so durable, he doesn't have to watch his spacing as much as a rogue, and he can off-tank easily if you need him to grab a creature that the tank can't hold threat on. His skills are best used with heavy or massive armor, either sword and shield or two-handed weapons, with a crossbow for ranged attacks.

Berserk ramps up Oghren's damage and a well-placed Mighty Blow can hammer an adversary.

Sunder Armor rips through a heavily defensive melee attacker, while Pommel Strike and Stunning Blows can knock an enemy out of combat for several seconds.

Two-Handed Sweep is great at striking multiple foes, as long as you don't steal threat away from the tank, and at the end of a fight, Final Blow deals massive damage but drains the rest of Oghren's stamina.

Personal Quest

If you speak to Oghren about his past, he will tell you about a woman he was once involved with, who has since moved to the surface.

Her name is Felsi, and although he is unclear about where she has moved, you can discover her working at the Spoiled Princess at the Lake Calenhad Docks. If you want to help Oghren reconnect with his past love, follow these steps:

• Talk to Oghren about Felsi to start the quest (with a high Persuade score, you can get him to tell you what actually went wrong between Felsi and him in the first place). Go to the Spoiled Princess at the Lake Calenhad Docks.
• If Oghren is in the party, he will see her and initiate conversation with you.
• If he isn't, you may talk to Felsi about Oghren. You can pick up some hints to give to Oghren on how to woo her.
• Oghren will eventually declare his desire to talk to her, then start the conversation. You can either help him with whispered hints and talking him up to Felsi, or try to sabotage his efforts with insults.
• Oghren will talk to you after talking to Felsi. If he has gotten his mojo back, Oghren will now be eligible to be friendly with you.
• If you chose to torpedo Oghren's chances with Felsi, she will turn him down when he goes to talk to her. Not helping Oghren will have the same effect as actively attempting to hurt his chances, as he needs to get into her good books. Needless to say, this will result in an approval drop.

Dialogue Choices

As with any companion, Oghren 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

• Oghren has plot-specific dialogue in the Fade in the "Broken Circle" quest line.
• He has dialogue in the "Captured" plot in Denerim.
• He's very keen on killing the dragon if you take him to the "Urn of the Sacred Ashes" quest.

Camp-Specific Dialogue

Some of his camp dialogues will only trigger after specific plots have been completed ("Nature of the Beast," "Paragon of Her Kind," "Landsmeet"), but they don't relate specifically to that plot. It just has to occur later in the game.

He's very depressed the first few times you talk to him in camp; if you ask him what's wrong, and he is starting to warm to you, he will first talk about how he felt about Branka.

• You can ask him how he likes the surface.
• You can ask him if he's homesick.
• You can ask him if he misses Orzammar.
• You can ask him what it's like to be a warrior in Orzammar.
• When he talks about being "war buddies," he'll challenge you to drink with him. It takes a high constitution check to pass this, but he'll still be amused if you fall over.

Gifts

Oghren loves to drink, and his gifts reflect that. Other companions might like a sip of wine from a tavern, but Oghren likes vintage alcohol to get stinking drunk.

Crisis Moment

Through dialogue choices, you can make Oghren so angry that he will try to leave, if his approval has dropped low enough.

When this occurs, you can try to convince him to stay, you can engage him in combat (Oghren will surrender before the end of the combat, and you can choose to kill him, threaten him back into line, or send him away), or you can just let him go. This can happen twice.

Highlights

• Oghren will teach the berserker specialization if he feels warm enough to the PC.
• Oghren will fall over drunk halfway through conversations quite often.
• Oghren burps, drinks, spits, and swears a lot. A drinking game could be made.
• Oghren likes to be appreciated, to be told he's better than he thinks he is, and to be flirted with a bit (if the player is a woman).
• If you take Oghren into the "Broken Circle," you get a bar fight in the Fade!