The Fade: Lost in Dreams

Lost in Dreams can be fairly confusing and difficult to some players. It also calls on the experience and use of several abilities not available to certain classes. This quest line utilizes mechanics from several Mage abilities, such as Shape Shifting and spell casting. It is possible, however, to get by with a minimal use of these abilities, as they are only required for certain small portions of the quest on the whole.

Background
After battling through hordes of Undead; power hungry Mages; and even over-zealous, mind-controlled Templars, The Warden and their companions will find themselves put to sleep with ease by a powerful abomination possessed by a sloth demon. They awaken in the dream-realm known to practitioners of magic as the Fade. Ordinarily the only individuals capable of conscious interaction within the Fade are mages, however, the sloth demon places the Warden in a realm apart from the rest of the Fade. This is his own small domain within the Fade; defined by his whim, and protected by his power. To leave, the Warden must find a way to confront the sloth demon and destroy him.

For the Majority of this quest the Warden will be alone, without support from party companions, nor much interaction with NPC's.

Side-note: For all you Dwarves that think because you are immune to magic you have found a loophole and can skip this long part of the quest, think again. For whatever reason the Sloth Demon can bypass your magical resilience and still send you straight into his alternate realm.

Weisshaupt
The Warden will awaken alone within the Fade, with a large fortress seen in the distance. Upon arriving at the Fortress the Warden will be confronted by none other than Duncan, the very Warden that recruited him. He will tell you he wasn't killed at the Battle of Ostagar, and will inform you that you are in the fortress of Weisshaupt, the ancient stronghold of the Grey Wardens.

No matter what the Warden discusses with Duncan, it is important to realize that Duncan is not alive or real. When the conversation completes, Duncan and his two cronies will attack. Once the Warden has defeated them, a Fade Pedestal will appear behind them. Click on this and it will bring up the Travel Map for this portion of the Fade.

This is also the first area with a Lyrium Vein. This restores health and mana/stamina. Sadly, Dwarves cannot use it.



The Raw Fade
Upon arrival into the Raw Fade the Warden will see a man. Talking to him reveals that he is the one and only Niall. He informs the Warden that he has been trapped within the Fade for some time, and during his imprisonment has gained some information about the area. Niall has a very pessimistic outlook on the Warden's chances of escaping the Fade, but will tell the Warden everything he knows. The Warden will gain helpful insight on where he is, and that in order to travel certain things must be done.

After ending dialogue with Niall the Warden is free to search the area. Behind Niall there is another Fade pedestal and just beyond that is a Fade Portal. The Warden needs to go to the Portal and use it. After transitioning to a new location in the Raw Fade, the Warden will come upon a Rage Demon attacking a mouse. They must kill the Demon and talk to the mouse. The Warden now gains the ability to shape shift into the spirit form of a mouse themselves.

Being a mouse has two benefits: (See Fade: Shapeshifting)
 * The Warden is small and can now travel between areas via "Mouse Holes" scattered throughout the Fade.
 * The Warden is small, and quiet as a mouse, enabling him to use the "Stealth" ability.

After gaining the ability to change into a mouse the Warden must use this ability to return to the area where he first encountered Niall. Along the way there will be a few demons to fight and some points of interest. Among these things are various cloudy looking doors. These are Spirit Doors and cannot be used until the Warden has gained a different shape shifting ability.

Once back to where Niall is, the Warden should talk to him and tell him about his newfound power. Then you should go to the Fade Pedestal, which is now activated, and use it. There are now several new areas available to the Warden for travel. Any one of them can be visited, but certain areas can not be fully explored until other forms are learned by the Warden. For this reason this walkthrough will go through a "suggested" order, but you are free to chose whichever way you wish to go about things.

In the realm of the Sloth Demon, you will find several objects that grant you a permanent increase to several of your attributes. By exploring thoroughly and visiting every room, even those that are not necessary for completing the quest, you can exit this Fade realm with a significant buff to your character stats. Even though you can't choose which attributes to increase, you can gain up to 21 points in all, which is equivalent to 7 level-ups (minus the points for spells or abilities that normally come with level-ups).

Behind the Spirit Door
Once the Warden has gained the spirit form, he can access the spirit door located here. Behind the door is a demon named Yevena. Yevena is one of the five guardian demons the Warden must kill in order to unlock the inner sanctum of the Fade and confront the sloth demon.

Yevena will have two shades with her. Using Spirit Form and Crushing Prison on her, the Warden is able to take her out of the fight while he deals with the two Shades. Once she is defeated, explore the area (There is a codex entry on the 'Black City' and an essence of willpower) and then use the spirit door to return to the Raw Fade and then use the pedestal to travel to the Burning Tower.



The Darkspawn Invasion
Use the Spirit Pedestal to travel to the Darkspawn Invasion area of the Fade Map. Here the Warden will encounter various Darkspawn like Genlocks and Hurlocks. Most of them will engage the Warden in melee combat, though a few will use bows, and there will also be a couple Emissaries for the Warden to deal with.

The Warden should search the entire map, changing into Mouse form whenever an area is explored, and they can go no further. It is not necessary to kill all the enemies in the area, though it will make things easier later on. Be sure not to try to walk through the fire you will die instantly. At some point the Player will enter a room with several pillars in it, and the Spirit of a Templar ducking for cover behind one of them. As the Warden approaches several Darkspawn will attack the Spirit and the Warden will need to help him slay all of them. Once all of the darkspawn are dead, the Spirit will teach the Warden another form. This form is called "Spirit".

Spirit form will grant the Warden several abilities, they are: (See Fade: Shapeshifting)
 * The ability to interact with "Spirit Doors" and other objects that seem to have an ethereal appearance.
 * The ability to cast "Winter's Grasp" spell
 * The ability to cast "Crushing Prison" spell
 * The ability to cast "Regeneration" spell
 * Several Attribute and Status changes, (such as:Armor, health, attack, defense, etc...)

After learning the Spirit Form, another Fade Pedestal will appear in the room. The Warden can use it now, or continue to explore the map, using Spirit Form to open the various Spirit Doors throughout the map. Most Spirit Doors will lead to a room that contains an "Essence." These essences will permanently increase various attributes. When finished, use the Fade Pedestal to return to the Raw Fade and use the Spirit Door next to Niall and face Yevena. (Covered in the Raw Fade section above labelled "Behind the Spirit Door")

(Also note that there is a Essence of Willpower back at Weisshaupt Fortress. It can only be activated by revisiting that area in Spirit Form)



The Burning Tower
In the burning tower The Warden will find fire everywhere, and most of the enemies are also burning. Use of the cold spells, or damage types is a great way to get through this area. Spirit Form offers The Warden the spell Winter's Grasp if they don't have the ability to cast spells on their own. Keep in mind that the use of fire based attacks, via runes or spells, will heal rather than harm, although the Fireball spell will still knock enemies down. It is possible to search most of this map between shifting into a mouse and in normal form. There are several essences here for increasing The Warden's base attributes, so it is important to explore as much as possible.

This section poses a threat to many players, as a Mabari's successful knock-down attack will be fatal. Save often, and proceed carefully.

After encountering five Mabari and one Burning Templar on the second floor of the level, the Warden will find a mouse hole. After traveling through it, the Warden will encounter a "Dreaming" Templar standing between two pillars as well as a Lesser Rage Demon. When The Warden approaches they will attack. It is usually a good idea to use Spirit Form to place crushing prison to incapacitate one and dispatch the other. Once the fight is finished, the Templar speaks with you briefly and grants yet another form. The Warden may now shift into the "Burning Man."

As the Burning Man, The Warden gains these benefits: (See Fade: Shapeshifting)
 * The Burning Man is immune to all fire effects. Be they spell, or the fire barriers around the various maps.
 * Ability to cast Flame Burst spell
 * Ability to cast Fire Ball spell
 * Various attribute and stat increases.

A Spirit Pedestal will also appear after The Warden has learned the new form. They can chose to use this pedestal to move on, or explore the level further using Burning Man to get to locations to open Spirit Doors. (There is one room with two essences, you can then move on)



Mage Asunder
This is one of the hardest portions of the Fade. In Mage Asunder the Warden will encounter many groups of several mages, as well as some Chantry Priests, and their Golem minions. Scattered throughout the level are some single Golems as well. This area of the Fade has several Essence Fonts to increase the various character attributes, so it is important to keep an eye out for them. (See Fade: Essences and Fonts.)

There is one room in the beginning of this level (at the end of the hall, last door on the left, and the door is open) where, as you approach, you will witness four mages talking, though it is not a cutscene. If you stand outside and wait, the four mages will begin to attack one another and will usually kill off two of them. Then, the remaining two will run to you in the hall and attack you. If you use mouse form and stealth before rounding the corner, you can enter the room, watch the fight, and wait until only one mage is remaining to engage.

Burning Man and the ability to cast Fire Ball and immunity to fire (meaning you can cast fireball on yourself without damage) makes this a useful form. You should be wary before passing through doors, as many that you open will have a line of fire on the other side, which will kill you instantly unless in the Burning Man form.

However if you choose to fight as the Burning Man, the mages will immediately switch to ice/frost spells and the Burning Man has no healing ability. Spirit's regeneration spell, and crushing prison also play their part in survivability. Golems hit very hard in melee combat, and have a ranged ability called "Hurl" that will lob a boulder at the Warden, causing area effect damage, and knocking them back. If you're in one of these forms and losing health, quickly morph back into your own character and take a poultice or this section can quickly kill the Warden.

The Warden must use his various gained abilities and fight their way up to the top of the tower. Once they have reached the top, they will enter a room to find a group of Chantry Priests and Golems attacking a "Cursed Dreamer." The Warden must assist the Dreamer in killing off everything arrayed against him. When they have succeeded they will be rewarded with their final form. The ability to shape shift into a mighty Golem.

The benefits of Golem Form are: (See Fade: Shapeshifting)
 * Increased Melee Pressence
 * Damage reduction
 * Ability to "Hurl" a rock and cause area effect damage and knock an enemy down or back.
 * Ability to "Slam" a target. Slam is a melee attack that does a large amount of damage, and knocks the enemy down.
 * Ability to cause the ground to "Quake" around The Warden. Quake stuns everything around the character (though other Golems will usually resist this).
 * Ability to smash open "Massive Doors."
 * Large health increase, and various other attribute changes.

Remember those Massive Doors in the other areas that wouldn't allow The Warden to continue exploring the level? Golem form gives the Warden the ability to open those doors, and get to the guardian demons behind them.

The Warden should continue on in Mage Asunder now that they have earned the Golem form. Smash open any door that is in the way, and kill the various enemies. Eventually the Warden will encounter Slavren. Slavren is a mini-boss Abomination guarding the Ward to the Inner Sanctum in Mage Asunder. With all the Warden has been through now, killing him shouldn't be terribly difficult. Once he is dead, The Warden is finished with this area of the Fade, and a Spirit Pedestal will emerge. If The Warden hasn't fully explored the area, now is a good time. Aside from some possibly missed enemies, the area is clear, and they have all they need to gain access to ALL of the Essence Fonts. Once they have explored to their hearts content, The Warden should use the Spirit Pedestal and return to the Burning Tower, and the Dark Spawn Invasion to handle the guardians hiding behind the Massive Doors of those areas.

There should be some chances of getting extra permanent points for the Warden through the spirit door before encountering the mini-boss.



Darkspawn Invasion: Part Two
Once The Warden has learned Golem form, they can finally break down the Massive Door in this area and fight their way to the guardian. There area a few large groups of Dark Spawn to fight through to reach him, so The Warden should be wary of becoming overwhelmed. Once they have cleared the way, The Warden will encounter an Ogre by the name of Uthkiel. Uthkiel is considerably more powerful than most Ogres and hits very hard. Using Crushing Prison, and a combination of Quake and Slam he can be kept from really hurting the Warden. If he is allowed to fight undeterred, however, he will knock the Warden down with nearly every attack, making it very difficult to fight back.

Once The Warden has killed Uthkiel, this area of the Fade is clear. They should explore those areas of the map that they were unable to before, and get all the Essence Fonts available.

The Burning Tower: Part Two
With Golem form, break down the Massive Door in this area, and again, fight the way to the Guardian. Burning Man is exceptionally powerful in this area, as The Warden is immune to the majority of the damage used against them. After fighting through the burning Templars, and Shambling Corpses The Warden will reach the guardian of this area. Rhagos is a Rage Demon. Even if he is more powerful than most, if the Warden fights him in the form of the Burning Man, he will be extremely easy. All of Rhagos' damage is fire damage, and as Burning Man The Warden is immune to anything he may do. He is also immune to fire spells, but The Warden is still able to cause normal melee damage to defeat him.

As with the Invasion, once the Warden as killed Rhagos, the area is clear, and one more seal to the Inner Sanctum is destroyed. They should search the level for anything they may have missed, and then continue on to the final Main area within the Fade, and the Final Guardian.

Templar's Nightmare
Templar's Nightmare is a good area to save until last. It has several of the hardest encounters, and The Warden cannot access the entire area without using three out of the four spirit forms. Just like any of the other areas, shifting between the various Spirit forms is how the Warden must negotiate the Nightmare. To move out of the starting room, The Warden must use Mouse form. Be ready. Once the Warden comes to the other side of the mouse hole, they will find an Arcane Horror standing behind a table in the center of the room. Not only does the Arcane Horror attack immediately, The Warden will trigger a very potent poison trap. There are two options here. First: The Warden can shift into Golem form, trusting in it's greater Nature Resistance and massive melee presence to see them through. Second: Use Spirit to cast "Regeneration" to cancel out the effects of the trap, and then deal with the Arcane Horror. If your character however is a rogue, the best option is to morph immediately into yourself, deal with the Horror and then disarm the poison trap on the left side of the room for the XP and to avoid tripping it later.

The first encounter sets the stage for the remainder of Templar's Nightmare. The fights are normally smaller encounters with much stronger enemies. For example: the very next fight the Warden will have after dealing with the trap and the Arcane Horror, will be an Ogre. The Warden must continue fighting, surviving and exploring the Nightmare. They will discover a couple of Essence Fonts, and eventually find the final Guardian to the Inner Sanctum. Her name is Vereveel, and she is a Desire Demon. Equipped with enough spell power to make the Warden's life miserable regardless what form they choose to fight in. Luckily, like most of her kind, she's fairly weak in the health department. The Warden should hit her as hard as possible, as fast as possible. Crushing Prison is again one of the best go-to spells, paralysing her for a short time, as well as doing damage. Once she is dead, the Warden has succeeded in destroying all of the wards protecting the Inner Sanctum. Having a rogue with the Momentum Ability enabled will make quick hits far easier and healing readily accessible.

There is however, still something to do before the Warden can kill Sloth. Where are all the Warden's companions? Weren't they ensorcelled along with the Warden? What are those "Nightmare" areas along the outside of the Fade Map?



Nightmares
After all the fighting, and struggling to bring down the protective wards keeping the Warden from defeating Sloth (as mentioned at the start of this walk through, there is also a Demon back where Niall is, behind a Spirit Door.), and returning to reality, it's nice to take a short break. Along the outer edge of the Fade Map, The Warden will notice three areas labeled "A Nightmare." The Warden's companions are trapped in these nightmares, and they need to be freed. Each nightmare contains a single party member locked in a dream. All the Warden has to do is convince the person there that they are NOT in some Utopia, but rather, are trapped in a dream manifested by their own desires, and the Demon Sloth's power.


 * Alistair will believe he is with his sister and her family. He invites The Warden for food, The Warden may persuade Alistair it's all a trick, or talk to his sister and kill "his family." note that if you speak to his family, you will fight them alone, but there are fewer of them. if you are able to convince him it's a trick, he'll join you against them, but there will be more of them.
 * Dog will only be asleep; no battle required to wake him up.
 * Leliana will be praying with a revered mother, finding "peace," she won't remember the Warden. The Warden need only remind her of her "Dream," and because of the Demons' response she will realize something isn't right.
 * Morrigan will be talking to her mother, Flemeth, and will not believe it is her and will tell the Warden to kill the spirit. (She will comment that the demon is even more annoying than her mother and that it cannot even create a good impression of Flemeth.)


 * Wynne will believe that there are dead mages around which is her fault and will try to bury them, the Warden must convince her that she is in the Fade.
 * Shale will be frozen as a statue again; no battle necessary to wake Shale up.
 * Sten will be with the soldiers he came to Ferelden with. If you play on his honor and the fact he has to obey you, you can even get some approval out of it.
 * Zevran will be on a rack being 'trained' by the Antivan Crows. If you can convince him he is already a Crow, you can fight the two false Crows but Zevran doesn't help as he's terrified.
 * Oghren will believe he is in a tavern where he is being constantly mocked by other dwarves
 * After getting the companion to see reason, whatever dream they were having attacks, and they are freed from their nightmare. Once freed, the companion will disappear and the Warden moves on.

The Warden must do the same for all the Companions in the party at the time they encountered the Sloth Demon, and once they are all freed, travel to the Inner Sanctum, their Companions will meet them there. If The Warden hasn't done so, now is the time to travel throughout the Fade and make sure all of the Essence Fonts have been received. Make sure to travel back to the opening area where you met Duncan, and also to the area where Niall is. Try to retrace all your steps from the beginning, there are many well hidden Essence Fonts. Once The Warden defeats Sloth, it is impossible to return.

The Demon Sloth
Finally, the Warden has made it into the Inner Sanctum and can face the Demon Sloth. When Sloth is approached he will initiate a dialogue with the Warden. It doesn't really matter what is said, there is only one way this can end. Sloth must be slain. Once it is obvious that a fight must ensue, the Warden's companions will suddenly appear and help the Warden defeat Sloth. This is contingent on The Warden saving them from their personal nightmares however, if the Warden decided not to bother, he must face Sloth alone. You may also be forced to fight Sloth alone, despite rescuing your companions, due to poor relationships with them or poor choice of words with Sloth. They will appear to have words but disappear once the battle starts. ''(See below and discussion page). ''

Sloth is a very tough fight. In fact, he is really four fights. Sloth will transform into something new once each form is defeated. His first form is that of a very powerful Ogre. Stronger, and faster than any Ogre the Warden has faced before. Sloth will do a fairly good job of keeping the Warden off their feet and lying on the ground. Once the Ogre form is defeated, Sloth will let a burst of energy lose and become a Rage Demon. Though more powerful, a Rage Demon is a Rage Demon. Cold attacks and fire resistance are the best way to handle one. When the Rage Demon form dies, again there will be a burst off energy, and Sloth will become an Abomination. There really isn't anything special about this form. Tougher, and with more health, but relatively easy to bring down. Its death will bring yet another burst of energy, and Sloth will enter his final form. Sloth's final form is his own, or that of a very powerful Arcane Horror. He will favor cold spells, and will attempt to cast Blizzard on the party. If at all possible, he should not be allowed to complete the cast on Blizzard. It will freeze the entire Party, and cause quite a bit of damage, in most cases spelling disaster for the Warden. The Warden should take full advantage of his various forms; Golem can be quite usefull, but spirit form should help the most. Using Spirit form's prison spell, then transforming into Golem and using his talents is a good way to bring down the Ogre. Spirit form's cold attacks should be more then enough to take down Sloth's other forms. The Warden should also note that when Sloth changes form, the warden will become stunned.

Note: If the Warden's relationship with the various companions is low enough, or they use certain dialogue options with Sloth, it is entirely possible that he finds himself facing the demon alone despite having rescued his companions. Be wary of angering one's allies.

Defeat Sloth, and The Warden is finally free of the Fade. But before The Warden leaves, Niall will have some things to discuss with him.

The Demon Sloth Solo Strategy
Trying to solo Sloth demon is surprisingly easy, if you exploit shapeshift healing.

Ogre form is able to deal some heavy physical damage, and all of his special attacks cannot be evaded by high defense. This makes golem form the obvious choice, for its increased health and armor. Simply smash at the Ogre untill your health drops to half, and then use slam ability to knock him back. Shift to normal and back to golem to reset your health to full. Slam gives you just enough time to do so while Ogre is running back to you. Repeat untill the ogre dies.

Abomination form is basically your standard abomination with lots of health. It suffers from fairly bad attack score, so any dexterity based characters are able to hack at him and take no damage themselves (high defense is a great choice for completing the game with your main character only).

Rage Demon form is easily countered with burning man form, which gives you immunity to all of his special abilities, thus protecting you from almost 80% of damage the Rage Demon can cause.

Sloth's Shade form is perhaps the most complete melee fighter, with its high defense and attack, slam, leap and drain life abilities. Repeating the Ogre tactics always works, though your standard form might be able to do just fine, depending on your defense.

Sloth's final form, Arcane Horror, is definetly the most dangerous. The worst of his spells is of course Crushing Prison, which will, if it cathes you unprepared, result in certain death. Winter's Grasp and Cone of Cold will be repeated as soon as the cooldown period expires, making Ice Salves and Spirit Balms a must for this fight. Unless the Warden can achieve very high spell resistance (80%+, preferably 100%), perhaps the best approach is to use the salves and shift to golem form for increased health. This should be enough to survive crushing prison and everything he throws at you while immobilized. When his initial barrage of spells has passed, shift back to normal form and keep attacking untill he dies, drinking health poultices as neccessary.

List of Essences

 * See Fade: Essences and Fonts.

Result
After Sloth has fallen, Niall will speak with the Warden and their Party. He will tell them about Uldred, and the Litany of Andralla, making them promise to collect it from his body upon their return. He, unfortunately, can no longer return to his body. He has been in the Fade too long, and even were he to return to his body, he would die shortly after. This is his final sacrifice.

Once the dialogue with Niall is over, The Warden will return to the real world, in the Tower of the Circle, to finish the job of ending the catastrophe that has befallen the Magi.


 * Return to the Broken Circle walk through.