STONE PRISONER

Sulcher's Pass

The first part of the video is a Darkspawn ambush.  For this fight, everybody has to stay still and together.  The reason is that there is a LOT of traps in this area.  Morrigan starts off with Sleep to take the Archers out of the battle.  Everybody then opens fire, with a Spirit Prison from Aldarion to boot, in order to take out the Hurlock Emissary right away.  Now we have to take care of the Hurlocks coming from behind.  Aldarion leads off with Mind Blast, and everybody besides Morrigan changes over to melee weapons.  Morrigan decides to save her Nightmare combo for the strongest enemy in the group, the Hurlock Alpha.  While Alistair, Leliana, and Morrigan go to work on the last Hurlock that approached from behind, Aldarion positions himself carefully so that he can catch the two Genlock Archers and the Alpha with Cone of Cold.  He then tags the Alpha further with Lightning and Winter's Grasp.  Despite this, the Alpha is still 'aggroed' on Morrigan because of her Nightmare combo.  So Alistair intercedes.  But by then he's pretty much dead anyway.  It is then easy enough to take out the Genlock archers at a distance.

Leliana then has a field day racking up experience points from all the traps.

The last part of the video involves making my way to Sulcher's Pass in order to obtain the Golem Control Rod, and begin the Stone Prisoner quest.

Wolf Ambush

Except on the way to the Village of Honnleath, I get ambushed by a very large pack of wolves.  First things first, everybody bunches up by the nearby stone slab in order to avoid getting swarmed from all sides.  Morrigan waits until the whole pack has closed in before casting Sleep.  Aldarion then positions himself carefully to unleash the Cone of Cold and Shock combo, while Morrigan subjects the Wolf in front of her to the Nightmare combo.  Now keep in mind that the Wolves will be 'aggroed' on Aldarion once they are no longer frozen.  Leliana carefully aims an Acid Flask in order to damage as many Wolves as possible.  Aldarion neutralizes the 'aggro' by casting Force Field on himself.  It then becomes a mop up.

Leliana has another field day with the traps.

The Village of Honnleath

The first few Genlocks are easy enough to kill.  The road takes a left turn into a large area filled with Darkspawn.  I use the bend in the road to my advantage, to lead small groups of Darkspawn ahead of the others in a process of divide and conquer.  After the first two times, there is a sizeable group of archers to the north, so Aldarion is content to blanket the area with Tempest (which he has now), and the party picks off any that come forward.

Note that once the battle ends, there is a chest that I can't open until I find a key for it.

At around 6:00, there is a large group of Darkspawn waiting atop the hill.  The road leading to the hill curves up and to the right, and again this is a feature that I use to my advantage.  Leliana fires a shot to pull some of them forward.  Aldarion blankets that certain point where Darkspawn will first come into view with Tempest, leaving them with a choice between taking sustained electrical damage or coming forward as stragglers. 

I repeat the process at around 7:00.  This time it's the Hurlock Alpha boss that comes forward as a straggler without any support.

I repeat the process for a third time at around 8:30.  It then becomes a matter of mopping up what's left.

At 10:45 is when I find the Bloodied Bronze Key needed to Olaf's Chest.  At 11:30, the chest holds Olaf's Prized Cheese Knife, which makes for a decent interim dagger.

At 12:10, well ... the Golem Control Rod doesn't work.  Guess I'll have to explore further.

Wilhelm's Cellar

The first fight is a room that, contrary to initial appearances, has a LOT of Darkspawn.  So Aldarion opens the door and blankets the room with Tempest.  Then he and the rest of the party hang back in the hallway leading to the door.  Cone of Cold is of course in order when some of them approach. 

Once I actually enter the room, another wave arrives, so Morrigan hits them with Sleep.  She also kills one of them outright at 2:55 with the Nightmare combo.  Aldarion seals the fate of the two remaining Genlocks with Cone of Cold.

At 4:24, if you want a gift for Oghren, is Wilhelm's Special Brew.

For the next fight, let's just say I'm not eager to climb up the stairs and into the waiting arms of the Darkspawn.  So Aldarion blankets the part of the room right next to the stairs with Tempest, and then hangs back in the hallway.  Everybody waits for the Darkspawn to come to them.  Now there's just a few left in them.  Aldarion lets loose with Cone of Cold once he has the Darkspawn in a line next to Alistair.  Note that the Hurlock Archers you saw at 7:30 got fried in the Tempest. 

Once it's all done, Matthias gives you the quest to find his daughter. 

At around 11:00, several Shades and a Dust Wraith are going to come after me from several angles.  Morrigan waits until they're bunched together, and unleashes Waking Nightmare.  Aldarion gets a couple with Cone of Cold.  The Dust Wraith leaves behind the Harvest Festival Ring (+2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +4 attack).  This will be one of Leliana's rings for the balance of the game, due to its obvious benefits.  Note that the +2 Strength will allow her to wear the Helm of Honnleath, and Tier 7 Drakeskin Leather Armor, without ever having her spend her attributes points on Strength.

Kitty

Here is where you have a roleplaying choice, whether it is to free Amelia from Kitty, kill Kitty but doom Amelia as well, or let Kitty possess Amelia.  The rewards vary depending on the choice you make.  I chose to free Amelia, and a reliable way to do it is to lie to Kitty and pretend you're going to go along with what she proposes. 

The first step is the puzzle to dissolve the wards.  The solution is to line up the tiles so that the flames gout from one corner, and then the next corner, forming 'half a square' so to speak.  The video from 2:50 to 6:20 shows an example of how to do this.

Once that is done, I recant on my acceptance of Kitty's offer, so combat naturally ensues.  Kitty is a Desire Demon that can cast highly damaging spells, and will be supported by four Rage Demons.  Morrigan zaps one of them with Winter's Grasp.  Aldarion gets himself into position, and then nails the other three with Cone of Cold once they have formed a line next to Alistair.  Keep in mind that Rage Demons are especially vulnerable to cold damage, so you use that to your advantage to get rid of them as quickly as you can and then stay on top of Kitty.

At around 8:03 I loot the following:

Cord of Shattered Dreams (+3 Willpower, +10 mental resistance) - This will make a decent interim belt for Morrigan.

Helm of Honnleath (+2 to all attributes, +3 armor) - This will be Leliana's helmet of choice, but I had Aldarion wear it for now since I couldn't stand to seem him wear a silly mage cowl in addition to his armor.

On the way back to Matthias will be fights against more Shades that shouldn't be difficult.  Once you reach Matthias, he'll give you the proper command word for the Golem outside.

Shale Awakens

Now it is time to awaken Shale and have her join my party.  I'm not particularly worried about losing approval with her, since there are plenty of gemstones to gift to her, plus an opportunity to score a lot of approval with her during her personal quest.


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