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Origins | Ostagar | Lothering | Circle Tower | Warden's Keep (DLC) | Return to Ostagar (DLC) | Stone Prisoner (DLC) | Brecilian Forest | Redcliffe | The Urn of Sacred Ashes | Orzammar | Deep Roads | Denerim | Final Onslaught |
In Search of Brother Genitivi | Morrigan's Quest | Haven | Ruined Temple | Mountainside Caverns | Mountain Top | The Gauntlet | The Arl of Redcliffe |
THE GUANTLET
The Guardian
Here is where I speak to the Guardian, who first describes rather cryptically the challenges of the Gauntlet, as then engages in his own interrogation regarding the motives of each party member.
Trial of Riddles
The first five minutes shows the first trial, to answer a series of riddles. You get more experience for answering the riddles correctly than for getting them wrong and having to fight Ash Wraiths. The answers are: Brona "Dream", Ealisay "A tune", Thane Shartan "Home", Lady Vasilia "Vengeance", Haferath "Jealousy", Disciple Havard "The mountains", Archon Hessarian "Mercy", Disciple Cathaire "Hunger".
Trial of Reflection
The next trial involves a vision of somebody from your past Origins, and a question as to whether you let that person down. They are as follows:
Trial by Combat
The next battle is where your party battles mirror images of themselves, each possessing roughly the same abilities as their counterparts. It is hard to give general advice for this party, for the simple reason that each player's party and builds will be different. It very often boils down to playing it by ear. Suffice to say, something I always had to deal with was that Enemy Alistair would always start off this battle with hitting My Aldarion with Holy Smite. It is for this reason that I had My Wynne use Lifeward on My Aldarion beforehand. My Aldarion's use of Mana Clash got resisted. My Wynne, however, managed to get a jump with a Fireball. Both Lelianas are firing away with their bows. A nice point for me is that my Wolf has used Overwhelm on Enemy Alistair, so My Alistair, My Aldarion, and Wolf race to finish him off. And indeed, Enemy Alistair is the priority for first killing in order to remove his use of shield talents and Templar abilities from the equation as soon as possible.
The next priority is Enemy Wynne, who can keep the others healed up and active if I let her. My Aldarion gets her with a Crushing Prison, and then the warriors rush in to finish her off. The end is now in sight. I next take out Enemy Leliana, who can score hefty damage with her bow but is easier to kill. Enemy Aldarion is saved for last.
Trial of Intelligence
The next trial is a puzzle. There are six tiles on the left, and six tiles on the right of the chasm. If a character stands over an individual tile, it will cause one or two quarters of a bridge crossing the chasm to appear, but in an ethereal or insubstantial kind of way. A character won't be able to step on that part of the bridge or cross it. If characters are standing on more than one tile, each of which causes the same quarter of the bridge to appear, that quarter of the bridge will become solid, thus allowing a character to walk across it. The objective soon becomes clear, to manipulate the tiles in a sequence that will allow a character to cross the bridge all the way across the chasm. This video shows the optimum sequence as described by the Dragon Age Wiki:
A Test of Faith
Now I pass the last trial, which involves crossing the line of fire without any equipment (which I'll get back once I pass anyway). This is the easiest way to cross. If you choose to cross without the "act of faith", the Guardian will attack along with a few Ash Wraiths. The Guardian both dishes out a LOT of damage with his Maul, and will take a lot before going down. If you want to go this route, be sure to take out the Wraiths first. Then use any abilities you have that can reduce a single monster's ability to attack (e.g. Spirit Prison, Misdirection Hex, etc.). In any event, I just chose to walk across without equipment.
The Urn of Sacred Ashes
Now is the moment where I take a pinch of the Ashes. I don't fall in with Kolgrim's request to defile the Ashes with Dragon Blood, since Leliana and Wynne will both turn on me. Note that doing this for Kolgrim is how you can unlock the Reaver specialization.
I loot the chests at either side of the Urn's resting place. A nearby Adventurer's corpse also has the Belt of the Magister Lord (+3 spellpower), which will be Wynne's belt for the rest of the game.
Brother Genitivi and the Urn
Finally, this video shows a pure role-playing decision, whether you let Brother Genitivi live and spread news of the Urn's discovery or kill him to keep the Urn's location a secret. I chose the former.
Now it is time to revive the Arl of Redcliffe.
