Beat the Wrath of Heaven in Dragon Age: Inquisition

The glowing woman

You rise from the ground, the world a smoky miasma around you. Green light and sparks come out of your left hand as you lift it to shade your eyes. Somewhere in the distance, you see a bright figure of a glowing woman before your awareness fades to black.

When next you awake, you're in a dungeon cell with your hands are cuffed together, and you are surrounded by soldiers with swords pointing at you. A stern woman with short black hair enters your dungeon cell, and she is angry, demanding what you know, and why she should let you live. Another woman enters, her red hair covered by a scarf. She admonishes the black-haired woman whom she calls Cassandra to let up on you because they need you. The red-haired woman's name is Leliana.

You learn about the Conclave, a meeting organized by the late Divine Justinia to negotiate for peace between the warring Templars and Rebel Mages. There was an explosion at The Temple of Sacred Ashes, the site of the Conclave, which left a giant tear in the sky, now known as The Breach at its center. You fell out of this Breach with a mark on your hand spewing green fire, which is eerily similar to the hole in the sky.

1. 1
   Learn how to move your character

   .

   

   Learn how to move.

   Follow the on-screen commands to move your character using the W, A, S, D keys on your keyboard. Press the space bar to jump.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
2. 2
   Move toward the gate

   .

   Cassandra orders the soldiers to open the gate, which opens onto an icy dirt road that leads off to the left.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help

1. 1
   Follow the road

   .

   

   Follow the road.

   There's only one way to go, so make your way up the road. The mark on your hand will activate briefly, causing you to stumble and fall in pain, triggering a cut-scene. Continue up the road and turn left onto a bridge. Green fire raining down from the Breach collapses the bridge, sending you and Cassandra tumbling down to the frozen river below.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
2. 2
   Take care of the two Lesser Shades

   .

   At this point, your character will spy a class-specific weapon on the ground and pick it up. Follow the on-screen instructions to defeat the two enemies here.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
3. 3
   Speak to Cassandra

   .

   

   Cassandra

   After you defeat the demons, Cassandra will demand that you drop your weapon. You have an opportunity to gain either some approval or disapproval with her.

   • Choose the first dialog option if you want to get her approval
   • Choose the fourth dialog option if you want to be snarky and get her disapproval.
   • No matter which dialog option you choose, Cassandra will realize that you need a weapon and let you keep it. She also gives you some healing potions, which you can use by pressing the 9 key on your keyboard.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
4. 4
   Explore the area

   .

   

   Iron Ore

   One thing to quickly learn about Dragon Age: Inquisition is that the game rewards you for exploration. At this point, the accessible area opens up; take advantage of this and run around. Use the F key on your keyboard to loot any corpses you come across and pick up any resources you find. There are some iron ore deposits and elfroot plants around, not to mention small piles of gold and corpses with items that you can sell later or give to your companions.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help

Varric Tethras

You come across a green rift spewing out demons and some people fighting them, including a certain bald elf mage and a beardless dwarf with a crossbow.

1. 1
   Help defeat the Lesser Shades

   .

   Use your powers using the number keys on your keyboard and your mouse button, like you did earlier to defeat the enemies. Once the Lesser Shades have been vanquished, the elf grabs your left hand and raises it toward the rift. A green light connects your hand with the rift, and the rift shatters.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
2. 2
   Talk to Solas and Varric

   .

   

   Solas the apostate

   You learn that Solas, an apostate mage, helped to stabilize the mark on your hand and saved your life. He knows something more about it. Hmm. Varric, the wisecracking dwarf, insists that he come along. The two join your party.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
3. 3
   Learn about the tactical camera

   .

   Your party comes across some more demons ahead, and you get a brief introduction to the tactical camera, which you can access by pressing (T) on your keyboard. This pauses the game and gives you a birds-eye view of the battle ahead. From here, you can switch to different party members by activating their corresponding F-keys (F1, F2, F3, and F4) and command them to attack different targets using their abilities.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help

Because the AI in Inquisition is pretty good, you don't need to worry too much about commanding your party: they do well enough on their own. I pretty much never use the tactical camera, but it's there if you need to control every aspect of the battle.

The Forward Camp

When you arrive at the Forward Camp, you come upon Leliana, the redhead from earlier, arguing with Chancellor Roderick, a Chantry cleric. Roderick views the situation as hopeless and wants to retreat, while Leliana does not. When they notice you, Roderick immediately demands that you be put in chains and carted off to Val Royeaux for trial and execution. Leliana and Cassandra stand up for you, and their united front causes the older cleric to back down. You have some dialog choices here, where you can be snarky, scared, or resigned to your fate. Regardless, Cassandra will ask you to choose from between two options for going forward.

Charge with the soldiers

This option gives you less experience and loot, but is easier because you have fewer enemies to defeat; however, you get to meet Commander Cullen earlier than you would otherwise, and Cassandra likes this choice. He is the tall blond man dressed in a weird suit of armor helping his soldiers battle the Wraiths and Shades coming out of the rift outside of the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I usually go this route because I like encountering Cullen earlier, but if you want more loot, or if you want a chance to save some soldiers, the mountain path is the way you want to go.

1. 1
   Defeat the Lesser Terrors

   .

   Use your abilities to help your party defeat the demons. Like all the other fights thus far, this one isn't too hard.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
2. 2
   Close the rift

   .

   When the demons have been vanquished, use the F key on the rift to close it. This will trigger a cutscene with Commander Cullen, who seems abrupt and suspicious of you.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
3. 3
   Talk to Commander Cullen

   .

   

   Commander Cullen

   You have a few options during your conversation with him, but either way, he will tell Cassandra that the way is clear and ask the Maker to watch over you before running off to help an injured soldier get off the field.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help

The mountain path

The mountain path is the stealthy approach, which Leliana and Varric appreciate. There are lots of ladders and stairs here with enemies to defeat and loot to take along the way.

1. 1
   Climb the ladder.

   

   It's a long climb

   Turn left once you reach the top where you'll find some Shades

   .

   Polish them off using your abilities. If you get low on health, be sure to use those healing potions.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
2. 2
   Take the stairs ahead

   .

   

   Loot

   There's some loot on the floor and in a chest in the room: grab it all up.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
3. 3
   Kill the Wraith and Shade

   .

   

   Wraiths and Shades

   Up the stairs, you'll find these guys. Dispatch them and look off to your left to find more loot.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
4. 4
   Seal the rift

   .

   Up another set of stairs, you'll find a rift surrounded by Wraiths and Shades. Dispatch them all, and then seal the rift.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help

Leliana arrives

Upon entering the Temple, Leliana appears and has a conversation with Cassandra about what's happening. Cassandra asks you if you're ready: you have to try and close it like you did with the smaller rifts you encountered earlier.

1. 1
   Wind your way down to the rift

   .

   As you and your party advance, you hear a deep, gravelly male voice talking about a sacrifice and the voice of the Divine crying out for help. You hear your voice, too, and the male voice ordering you to be killed. What in Thedas is going on?

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
2. 2
   Jump down once you reach the bottom

   .

   There are more soldiers here. Listen to Solas explaining that the rift is sealed, but it was not done properly. In order to properly close it, you will have to use your mark on it to reopen it, then try to close it again. Of course, it means that you and your party will have to deal with the demons that come out.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
3. 3
   Use the F key on the rift to reopen it.

   

   Pride Demon

   A Pride demon pops out; he is huge and nasty and you're going to have to use some special tactics to defeat him.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
4. 4
   Press and hold the F key to disrupt the rift

   .

   

   Disrupting the rift leaves the demon vulnerable.

   This will disrupt the energy coming out of it and damage the demon's defenses so that your party's attacks can hurt it. Don't worry too much about it attacking you; the other members of your party and the soldiers pretty much keep it occupied: just concentrate on using your mark on the rift.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
5. 5
   Kill the smaller demons that emerge from the rift

   .

   When you have successfully disrupted the rift, it will explode in a shower of green sparks and smaller demons will appear. Fight them off and let your party and the soldiers concentrate on the Pride demon.

   • The Pride demon will fall after a couple of assaults on the rift
   • A cutscene triggers as you attempt to seal the Breach and the screen fades to black as the quest completes.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help

Congratulations! You've finished the first quest in the game. You should have reached your second level and be well on your way to your third level by the end.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

Comments