Dragon Age Wiki Guide

Preparing for the End

After you've completed all three of the major quests in the storyline, you're free to roam around completing any leftover side quests. To progress to the game's final battles, talk to Captain Garavel in Vigil's Keep's throne room and choose your team.

You will not be able to change your party or buy much of anything after this point, so think very carefully about who and what you want to bring with you into the final battle. If you're interested, Velanna gets a special scene if she's with you as you go after the Mother, but it's nothing crucial. It's a very good idea to have a rogue with you, as there are a couple of important locked chests in the final dungeon.

You'll initially be sent to Amaranthine to defeat several hurlocks in the village outside the city gate, but after a very short fight, you have a decision to make: do you go into Amaranthine to save any townsfolk that may have survived the initial attacks, or do you burn the city down, then return to Vigil's Keep and protect the Wardens that you're ostensibly leading?

There's an achievement/trophy for it either way, and several of your party members have strong opinions on the subject. If you didn't do a lot of the side quests in Vigil's Keep, particularly the ones that involve arming the guards or shoring up the walls, you may want to run back to prevent your party members from dying in the battle. If you did most of the side quests along the way, though, and are confident in the keep's defenses, then stay and protect Amaranthine.

Whichever decision you make, you'll probably need to make a couple of Persuade checks to convince a party member of two that this is a good idea. Justice and Oghren in particular don't like the idea of burning down Amaranthine, but a successful Persuade will minimize or eliminate the influence hit.