Sten

Sten is a warrior of the Beresaad, the vanguard of the qunari race. He is a stoic and disciplined man with a strong code of honor, and how he treats others depends on whether or not they have his respect, which he does not give easily. He is a potential companion to the Warden and can be recruited in Lothering.

Background
After the last truce, the qunari began sending missionaries and explorers into the southern lands, and Sten may in fact be one of those. If he trusts the Warden enough, he will reveal that he was sent with a group of other qunari to discover what the Blight is. His group was attacked by darkspawn, many of them slain. When he awoke, his comrades were dead and his sword gone. To a qunari, the sword is the soul. If he were return to his homeland without it, he would be killed. Out of rage from losing his sword, he murdered the farmers who woke him with his bare hands. The infidel ways are not his, and if he needs forgiveness for his crimes it is a matter of qunari honor and not of human law.

Involvement


The Warden can choose to have Sten join the party after freeing him in The Qunari Prisoner. Sten is a strong, proud and noble warrior who refuses to elaborate on his people, his predicament and most of his comments are brief. He is a strong believer in women having a place that doesn't include the battlefield but will finally admit to being surprised by the Warden and their skills only towards the end of the main quest.

If Sten is in the active party when they reach Haven, he will attempt to overrule the warden and gain control of the group as he tires of the aimless wandering around. If you cannot reason with Sten, he will attack you and you must defeat him to earn his respect. If you can reason with him however, and you have adequate coercion skills, it is possible to end this encounter without a fight and still gain a bit of approval with Sten in the process. Just as always, standing up to Sten (i.e. I'm not here to impress you) will always gain you approval points with him. A good place to earn several approval points with Sten is Redcliffe. If you manage to recruit every available individual into the battle, including Lloyd and Benwick, you will receive approval points from Sten based on his desire to honour duty.

As with Ohgren, Wynne and Shale, it is impossible to romance Sten.

Quests Given
Sten's Lost Sword

Initial Statistics
Class: Warrior

Specialization: None to start with

Starting Talents:

Warrior: Powerful, Threaten, Precise Striking, Taunt

Two-Handed: Pommel Strike, Indomitable, Sunder Arms, Mighty Blow, Powerful Swings

Note that Sten is the only NPC who comes with no specialization. Moreover, he won't get any specialization point at level 7, but one at level 14.

Strategy
Fill out Sten’s Two-Handed school as soon as possible and capitalize on some of the top-tier talents quickly, which will seriously increase his damage potential and make him an excellent damaged oriented companion. As with rogues, Sten should allow the tank to control enemy mobs and then attack from the rear or flank. Because Sten is so durable, he doesn’t have to watch his spacing as much as a rogue, and he can off-tank if the player needs him to grab a creature that the tank can’t hold threat on. His skills are best used with heavy or massive armor and two-handed weapons, and crossbow suits for ranged attacks.

Gifts
Sten has a liking for paintings. This may seem uncharacteristic of him but is actually due to one of the Qunari disciplines.

See Gifts for more details on Sten's preferred gifts.

Quotes



 * "If I were indeed hostile, you would be bleeding."
 * "I like swords, I follow orders; there's nothing else to know about me."
 * "Either you have an enviable memory, or a pitiable life, to know nothing of regret."
 * "No."
 * "No one has a place here. Your farmers wish to be merchants. The merchants dream of being nobles, and the nobles becomes warriors. No one is content to be who they are."
 * "Happiness is fragile. Nothing can be built upon it that will last. Only duty endures."
 * "There is... the food is interesting"
 * "Ferelden smells of wet dogs."
 * "Isn't it the nature of a wound to bleed?"
 * "I thought their warriors would have at least been taller."

Dialogue

 * Warden "Cookies?"
 * Sten : "Yes. we have no such things in our lands. This should be remedied."

-- --
 * Warden: "Elves have strange powers."
 * Sten: "Being easily conquered does not constitute a 'power'."
 * Warden: "Tell me about the Qunari."
 * Sten: "No."
 * Warden: "Well, that wasn't what I expected to hear."
 * Sten: "Get used to disapointment. People are not simple.  They cannot be defined for easy reference in the manner of: 'the elves are a lithe, pointy-eared people who excel at poverty.'"

--
 * Warden: "What were you doing in the cell?"
 * Sten: "Sitting, as you saw."

-- -- --
 * Sten: "I don't understand. You look like a woman."
 * Warden: "Are you flirting with me, Sten?"
 * Sten: "Flirting? I don't know this word. Speak the common tongue."
 * Sten: (When first entering Haven) "An interesting strategy, do you intend to continue heading north until it becomes the south and attack the archdemon from behind?"
 * Warden: "He'll never see it coming.


 * Sten: (After engaging in a conversation with Sten at the celebration.) "Where is the cake? I was told there would be cake. The cake is a lie."

Cheat for Infinite Approval
Once Sten has joined the party speak to him until the option "Why did you come to Ferelden?" appears in the list of questions. Continue the conversation with any of the listed options until the option "Why would the qunari care about the Blight?" appears. Select it then select "I'm a Grey Warden. It's my job." Then select "Did you find the answer to his question." Now the option "Why would the qunari..." will appear again creating a loop. Each loop is worth 4 approval.

Trivia



 * Sten is not his actual name, it is his title in the Beresaad, as Alistair figures out. It is also brought up by Zevran in one of the companion conversations - that he has encountered other Qunari in Antiva and 'Sten' is his rank, not his name. This may also be learned if Sten travels into the Fade with the Warden. Upon finding Sten in his dream, the player will be able to ask why the other Qunari call him "the Sten" and receives the response, "For the same reason people call you the Warden."
 * Of all the companions besides the Warden, Sten only seems to genuinely like and respect Shale, as he calls her 'kadan', the same title he bestows on the Warden.
 * Sten loves cookies and once even stole some from a child, claiming that he was relieving the child of spoils.
 * Sten is very fond of paintings, which are the key to increasing his approval rating.
 * Sten also has a softer side, as demonstrated when Leliana catches him picking flowers, although Sten denied it, claiming he picked them for their medicinal properties. There's also another instance in which Leliana catches him playing with a kitten.
 * In The CGI video, Sten has facial hair and appears much younger.
 * Sten's sword is named Asala which means "soul" in the Qunari language.
 * Sten is a Scandinavian word for stone
 * When Sten says "Where is the cake? I was told there would be cake. The cake is a lie.", it is a reference to the game Portal by Valve. With 'The Cake is a Lie' being written on walls predominantly through many of the game's levels.