Loghain Mac Tir

Born into a time where his country was under the boot of a foreign tyrant, Loghain Mac Tir and his close friend Maric Theirin drove out the occupying forces of the Orlesian Empire more than 30 years ago. He is more a symbol than a man, representing the Fereldan ideals of hard work and independence. Now with his friend's death, he is left to defend the land with the naïve and inexperienced King Cailan Theirin, who is married to Loghain's daughter Anora. Loghain is the Teyrn of Gwaren.

Strategy
When Loghain has to be fought for the crown, any of the four people in the group can fight him (except Dog). Every class can beat Loghain with the right strategy.

Loghain has high physical and mental resistance, so it is difficult to knock him over or paralyze him. Unlike other boss level creatures he is not explicitly immune to these effects.

He will use Shield Bash and War Cry to knock over the player, so high physical resistance is very helpful.

Warrior

 * You can beat him fairly easily as a warrior with average stats (~40 str/dex) if you equip some +physical resistance weapons/armor so that he can't knock you down as often. The fight ends pretty quickly if you can get to the point where you don't get knocked down every time he uses War Cry. Just watch your health (his shield bash will still send you flying) and hack away at him, and he won't last long.


 * A PC with the full Shield-and-Weapon tree should have little-to-no trouble with him with proper handling, due to the relatively high Dexterity and Strength requirements for mastering the tree. Activating Shield Wall will prevent your PC from being knocked over, which is generally the largest factor in taking damage from him due to his War Cry and Shield Bash.


 * Another efficient strategy is using a warrior with maxed-out 2H skill tree as well as the second Reaver talent. Keep him feared, pummeled to the ground, and stunned by the passive 2H ability. The Legion of the Dead massive armor is a good goal for this battle, as it requires much strength, which aids you in the battle -- and the Legion armor is not half bad either.

Mage
His high resistances make it unreliable to disable him with spells that have resistance checks, but unlike most bosses he is not immune to most disabling effects, so spells that do not have resistance checks are highly effective - Crushing Prison in particular is almost an "I win" button, and Mind Blast and Cone of Cold are also effective.

While he has high physical and mental resistance, he does not have spell or elemental resistance, so damage spells are quite effective compared to rogue and warrior attacks.


 * One tactic is to use Morrigan. She will have Mind Blast, and probably Cone of Cold. Sleep plus Horror makes for a great combo if you can get through his resistance.
 * If you have Wynne in your party, you can also use her strong damage mitigation abilities (healing, Heroic Defense, Lifeward, Rock Armor, etc.) combined with frequent barrages of Stonefist and Arcane Bolt to whittle his health down. However, when Loghain activates Perfect Striking, it may be a good time to use Wynne's Vessel of the Spirit ability for a quick health/mana regeneration, plus disorient effect.
 * If you have crushing prison then you have many options. Vulnerability Hex followed by Crushing Prison and stacking area persistent effect spells (Tempest, Inferno and Blizzard) and/or damage over time spells (Virulent Walking Bomb, Flame Blast) can defeat him before crushing prison expires.
 * If you have Blood Mage specialization, using Blood Wound is very effective against him.

Rogue

 * A rogue with at least level 3 Stealth and level 1 poison-making can simply enter stealth mode at the start of the fight, stand at a distance, and throw ranged attack items (such as acid flasks or shock bombs) at Loghain until he runs out of health. Loghain cannot attack stealthed opponents, but he can approach the Warden's position whenever he takes damage. When he gets close enough, your character may attempt to automatically attack him, but this can be prevented simply by running away from him until he stops chasing you.
 * Dirty Fighting always works to stun Loghain.
 * A rogue who uses the Dirty Fighting talent to stun Loghain and then backstabs him should have little difficulty, providing they maintain distance when Loghain is not stunned.
 * If you've invested in the Dual-Weapon tree and you happen to get your hands on Concentrated Deathroot extract (whether from drops or Poison-making), all you need to do is use the extract and fight Loghain. If your dexterity is high enough, you'll rarely miss, and he'll stay stunned throughout the whole battle.
 * If you are invested in the Ranger Specialization you can use the trick to summon two pets at once and have both of them use overpower on Loghain. Make sure to click on the new tactics prompt when you summon each one, or you won't be able to use the skills. Using Dirty Fighting while Loghain is targeting your pets will insure an easy victory.
 * A Duelist/Assassin can very easily win this as a straight fight. You could probably win with just auto-attack, but using Dirty Fighting and Riposte to stun him will allow you to Backstab him if you have Coup de Grace to make the fight faster.
 * If your Warden is skilled with a bow then you can try and create a distance between you and Loghain, if you get enough distance he will swap weapons to a weak Crossbow and can easily be defeated.

Gifts

 * Loghain is fond of maps; giving these as gifts will significantly boost his approval.

Loghain's Starting Stats
Relative Attribute Weightings on Auto-Level: Strength 0.95, Dexterity 0.8, Willpower 0.5, Magic 0, Cunning 0.15, Constitution 1.6.

Loghain's Starting Talents
Champion: War Cry, Rally, Motivate, Superiority.

Warrior: Powerful, Threaten, Bravery, Precise Striking, Taunt, Disengage, Perfect Striking.

Weapon and Shield Talents: Shield Bash, Shield Pummel, Overpower, Assault, Shield Block, Shield Cover, Shield Tactics, Shield Mastery.

Quotes

 * Loghain: "Pray our king proves amenable to wisdom, if you're the praying sort."
 * Warden: "And if he doesn't?"
 * Loghain: "Then simply pray."


 * "You're pretty for a Grey Warden. Don't let anyone tell you that you don't belong. The first Warden Maric brought to Ferelden was a woman, best warrior I've ever seen." ''To city elf female Warden at Ostagar.
 * "You're no surface dwarf. I can see it in your eye, smart of the Wardens to look for recruits in Orzammar." To the Dwarven Warden at Ostagar.
 * "Your fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing, Cailan! We must attend to reality."
 * "You rely on these Grey Wardens too much, Is that truly wise?."
 * "Understand this: I will brook no threat to this nation. From you... or anyone!"
 * "Lords and Ladies... Stand with me, and we will defeat even the Blight itself!"
 * "The Emperor of Orlais also thought I could not bring him down. Expect no more mercy than I showed him. There is nothing I would not do for my homeland."
 * " 'A man is made by the quality of his enemies.' Maric told me that once. I wonder if it's more a compliment to you or me." At the Landsmeet, once The Warden defeats Loghain in the voting
 * "Daughters never grow up, Anora. They remain six years old with pig tails and skinned knees forever."Before dying at the hands of Alistair or the Warden during the Landsmeet.
 * "You'll have to forgive me if I shut my eyes and think of my dead wife." Before performing Morrigan's ritual
 * "Now it is time for me to go. The Orlesian Wardens await my presence, daggers and all." Before departing to Orlais in Awakening
 * "I am surprised. Thank you." When given a gift he likes.
 * "Be good to Anora. If I hear differently, remember that Orlais is only just across the border. I can always return." When speaking with the Human Noble Warden in Awakening, if the Warden married Anora.

Trivia

 * Simon Templeman, the voice of Loghain, is also widely known for his voice acting in The Legacy of Kain and Uncharted series. He also provides the voice of Admiral Han'Gerrel in Mass Effect 2.
 * Loghain may have been based on the Irish king Lóegaire mac Néill who was a frequent antagonist of St. Patrick. Several accounts describes his schemes to kill St. Patrick and his followers and supposedly submits at the counsel of his people and is baptised or is not converted and dies unbaptised.
 * Loghain's last name, Mac Tir, may be a reference to mactìre, which is Gaelic (gàidhlig) for wolf.
 * In the novel, The Stolen Throne, Loghain forms and leads a skilled company of elven archers known as the 'Night Elves.' These were elves recruited from within the rebel army.
 * Teyrn Loghain bears a passing physical resemblance to Simon Templeman's best known role, Kain, the titular protagonist from the Legacy of Kain series. Before Kain was reanimated as a Vampire, he had the same pale skin and dark, long hair as Loghain. Additionally, both characters were Nobles.