Zevran

You meet Zevran at a random encounter after having finished at least one major world plot. Your party is accosted by a traveler who begs for help from bandits. When you follow her to the camp, you get attacked by a group of assassins led by Zevran.

You must talk to Zevran after he has been defeated, and he will explain that he is an assassin hired by Loghain to kill all the remaining Grey Wardens, but that he is willing to work for you instead - in exchange for his life, of course.

Zevran at a Glance

Starting Attributes

• Strength: 19
• Willpower: 19
• Cunning: 15
• Dexterity: 33
• Magic: 14
• Constitution: 10

Class: Rogue

Recommended Build: DPSer

With the assassin specialization, Zevran works well with a tank when he can get behind a target and rip it to shreds.

Starting Talents

• Assassin: Mark of Death
• Rogue: Dirty Fighting, Below the Belt, Deadly Strike, Lethality, Stealth, Stealth Item Use, Combat Stealth
• Dual Weapon: Dual-Weapon Training, Dual-Weapon Sweep, Flurry, Momentum

Location

Random Encounter

Unlock Condition

After you complete at least one major world quest line, you will eventually meet Zevran in a random encounter.

Combat Advice

Zevran contributes best when you sneak up on opponents and surprise them. Before you enter line of sight with a mob, Zevran should go into stealth mode and slink around to the mob's rear where he can use Combat Movement to ensure a backstab and Exploit Weakness to deliver extra damage based on his cunning score.

If he can't reach the enemy's rear, stay hidden and wait for adversaries to move and expose their vulnerable backs. Never engage head on; Zevran can always at least strike from a flanking position.

Focus on Zevran's dexterity and willpower as he levels. He will probably be an accomplished poisoner.

He will take best to light armor, dual weapons, and archery with shortbows or longbows. Fill out Zevran's assassin specialization as soon as they open up (especially up to level 14's Lacerate).

Concentrate on the Dual Weapon school whenever you don't have an assassin point to spend. Dual-Weapon Finesse should be a priority to avoid the standard penalties associated with fighting two-handed; the goal, of course, is to reach Dual-Weapon Mastery.

Whirlwind provides damage against multiple foes at once, while Riposte gives Zevran a stun attack for those targets that just won't go down.

Gifts

Antivan Leather Boots and Dalish Gloves will each initiate a specific conversation with Zevran, in which it is possible to gain further approval.

They will be transformed into real objects and equipped on Zevran's person, once given. The chest that holds the Dalish Gloves appears only after you kill the shade in the West Brecilian Forest.

Crisis Moments

Unlike most of the other companions, you can lose Zevran easily if you aren't careful. He did try to kill you once, remember? Here are the three main ways to lose Zevran from the group:

• During the first random encounter, Zevran can be killed before you ever talk to him, or at any time during the first conversation before he is recruited. Shame on you.
• Based on poor approval rating, you can make Zevran so angry that he will try to leave. You can try to convince him to stay, or you can engage him in combat (thereby killing him), or you can just let him go. This can happen twice; the second time there is no more convincing.

Just before the Landsmeet, Zevran's old friend Taliesin will ambush you in a back alley random encounter with a number of Antivan Crows.

If Zevran likes you a lot, he'll stay and fight them, though your dialogue choices in this encounter can cause him to leave even if he likes you enough to stay.

If he really doesn't like you, he'll join them to fight against you. If he's somewhere in between, he'll leave during the fight but stay in the party afterward.

Dialogue Choices

As with any companion, Zevran 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

Zevran has specific dialogue in the Fade in "Broken Circle" and in the "Captured" quest in Denerim.

If you ask him what he thinks of the Dalish, he will tell you about his Dalish mother. If you have killed all the elves in favor of the werewolves, he will be displeased with you.

He will ask you about your plans to be queen or king, after the Landsmeet, if you are a Human Noble. Ask about Antiva (to get the Boots quest).

Ask about the Dalish (to get the Gloves quest, which is only available after entering the Dalish camp and talking to Mithra).

Camp-Specific Dialogue

• Zevran has no camp-initiated dialogue, but it is a good time to talk to him in general.
• Ask him about the Crows.
• Ask about being an assassin.
• Ask about his adventures until he's not willing to talk about a particular mission.
• You will get to a point where he's not willing to talk about his adventures for a while. Eventually, he will again.
• He should talk about his last mission before Ferelden when he's friendly, in love, or adore.
• If you are in a romance with Zevran (at adore level) and have not initiated sex with him, he will do so at camp. All sex-related dialogue, of course, is at camp.
• If you have rescued him from the Crows and have reached friendly (or love), he will thank you at camp.

Romance

Zevran is unabashedly bisexual, and will hit on you regardless of gender. You can cut him off quickly, or engage him in a light flirtation that will lead to romance almost as soon as you wish.

Zevran responds well to sympathy in the early stages of his conversation and blatant flirtation and sexual innuendo. He also likes to feel needed, but also appreciates the occasional sassy bossiness. ("I decided I wanted to torture you, first" or "Fine. Get in my tent. No more questions." generates an increase, where "Quiet! You'll answer when spoken to!" generates a decrease.)

He doesn't like to feel caged in: offering him his freedom, reluctantly, will go over well (but don't go too far - he might take you up on it). Talking about love or commitment before he talks to you about it might not be the best way to deal with him.

It's possible to anger him, but you really have to work at it, and a medium Persuade skill and a plea to his better nature (I need you) or his greed (don't you want to stay for the treasure) will generally be enough to convince him to stay.

At the Pearl in Denerim, there is a duelist named Isabela who is acquainted with Zevran. If you are in a romance with him and bring him to the Pearl, he will join you in a threesome with her.

If you have Leliana in your party, and she has changed to a more hardened personality, and she is in a romance with you, she will also join you in a foursome. This is very hard to achieve, as Leliana is more jealous/insecure than the other romance characters, and will object to your romances with others much earlier than anyone else.

If any of your other romances are at adore level, you'll need to talk to her only when she initiates, and then after the Marjolaine quest encounter (in order to harden her), and then go straight to the Pearl.

However, once Zevran falls too far in love with you (after you free him from the Crows by killing Taliesin), he will be unwilling to sleep with you any longer, until he sorts through his feelings.

If you ask him about it, he will tell you how he feels, and depending on how you respond, will decide to stay with you in a romance or not. But as long as you don't reject him outright, he'll stay.

If you decide to become king consort to Anora or queen consort to Alistair (only on the Human Noble path), Zevran will be happy to remain your lover on the side.

Highlights

• Zevran will teach the assassin specialization if he feels warm enough to the PC.
• He has many excellent stories about his life as an assassin; you can ask him about these at almost any time.
• Zevran will hit on almost all the other companions unabashedly in banter. Take him everywhere for fun.