Legacy (quest)

Legacy is the main plot quest in the Legacy DLC for Dragon Age II. It reveals certain aspects of the Hawke family

Acquisition
The quest is triggered automatically once the introductory quest for Legacy, A Memento of the Past, has completed.

Walkthrough
There are two distinct parts to the quest - the first is battling through the Carta occupied section of the Vimmark Mountains, the second is exploring the Grey Wardens prison housing Corypheus. This quest progresses in a linear sequence.

Vimmark Wasteland
Varric brings Hawke and Hawke's party to the Vimmark Wasteland at the beginning of Legacy. Varric believes it to be the location of Carta dwarves who have been attacking Hawke. You must explore the wastelands in search of the Carta hideout.

Hawke is ambushed twice by the Carta gang in the Vimmark Wasteland.
 * The first ambush comes just after you are met by the Carta messenger—the party is attacked by a gang which will include Carta thug, Carta sniper, and Carta overseer. You can loot Eye of Blue from the overseer.
 * The second ambush occurs after you pass through the first wooden gates. You are locked into an enclosure bounded by a wooden fence and walkways. The first enemy is a bronto, with more Carta thugs and Carta snipers on the walkways.

There are trap activation switches on the walkways to the north and south of the enclosure.

The key to the exit gate is in a chest on the on the hillside below the northern walkway. The passageway exits to the Vimmark Chasm.

Vimmark Chasm

 * Main courtyard: You are lured by the Carta messenger into the main courtyard of a deserted fortified building. You are immediately ambushed by the Carta—first, by two brontos, and then by a gang of Carta thugs. Once you have defeated this ambush, you are able to explore the courtyard, although the gate to the eastern passage requires a key to unlock.


 * Smaller courtyard: There is a smaller courtyard to the north of the main courtyard. There are two rooms leading off it, with some useful loot, including health potions, The Graven Circle, and some high level class-specific armor for Hawke. You will be ambushed again by the Carta on coming back down the stairs from the northernmost room into the smaller courtyard. The ambushers include lots of Carta snipers and two Carta assassins that can make quick work of your party if you are not careful. If you are having trouble countering their quick dps, remember that they will not attack you if you close the door which allows you a little breathing room if things become somewhat hectic for you.
 * Note: If you can reach the trap switch in the middle of the small courtyard next to the decaying tree, it will do devastating damage to the Carta thugs ambushing you.


 * Southern steps: The steps to the south of the main courtyard lead to a room containing the key to the eastern gate, Twisted Steel Ring, and a viewpoint across to the Warden's Prison. You are once again ambushed by the Carta on leaving the small room, including the familiar Carta snipers and an Carta overseer.


 * Eastern passage: Using the key to open the gate at the east of the main courtyard, you exit into the eastern passage, down steps carved into the hillside. You are attacked again by the Carta (thugs and a master sniper) and watch out for the two simple traps. You exit from the area into the Carta Hideout.

Carta Hideout
On entering the hideout, you are attacked by a Carta thug and a Carta sniper, and the room also contains a trap.

In the room with the already-dead bronto corpse, you are then ambushed by the Carta. There are a few Carta thugs on the floor of the room, but the main threats are the massed snipers on the balconies above the room, who rain down bolts on you. To attack the snipers, you need to pass south through the dead bronto room, up the stairs in the next room, then turn right immediately before the caged live bronto. The first piece of the Regalia of Weisshaupt unique armor set - the boots - is in a chest on this balcony.


 * For a mage Hawke, this is the Footwraps of the Silent One.
 * For a rogue Hawke, this is the Warden Scout's Boots.
 * For a warrior Hawke, this is the Boots of the Fortress.

Next, you have a caged bronto. There are three locked doors opposite the cage. Each holds treasure, as well as health potions and injury kits. The third door is the biggest bonanza, with two treasure piles of gold: the amount depends on Hawke's level.

After passing through this room, you will come across a small staircase leading down to a chest containing an object called Warm Orb. After collecting it, if you backtrack to Vimmark Wasteland, to the large enclosure at the Carta fort entrance, you will find a Pulsing Obelisk. Activating it will summon the secret boss named Malvernis; this is a 3 part battle, see his page for strategy. He will drop Smite and Ichor when defeated. Proceed back to where you found the orb.

A few rooms later, after some further brushes with the Carta, the passage turns north and opens into a larger room with disused mine carts and mine shaft entrances. The dwarf Gerav, an acquaintance of Varric, appears. He makes a number of cryptic references to the need for "the master" to be free, and how the Carta drink darkspawn blood in order to hear his music and his calling. A fight with Gerav is triggered, after which a rueful Varric (if he is in your party) explains that Gerav constructed Bianca for him. Gerav drops Turquoise Ring of the Archon.

After you have fought your way up through a fight on the curved stone steps against a Carta mob (including a Coterie alchemist and thugs), you come to a griffon statue (similar to that in the Hawke Estate or Gamlen's House as is used to trigger Legacy) which can transport you back to Kirkwall.


 * Don't miss the crate with over 7 sovereigns and a few other treats, behind the statue.
 * If you use this statue, you can change your party and restock goods etc.
 * When you restart Legacy, you are returned to this point.

Once you pass through the metal gate next to the statue, it locks behind you and you are locked into the hideout. The dwarf Rhatigan appears, and explains that he swore he would bring the blood of Malcolm Hawke to Corypheus. You have to fight Rhatigan, and the Carta snipers supporting him to pass on. The traps in this area can be highly effective to deal with the snipers. Rhatigan's body is looted to obtain the item The Hawke's Key. You then exit through the Passage Down, which leads to Corypheus's Prison - Sashamiri's Floor.

Corypheus's Prison - Sashamiri's Floor
There is a Gather Your Party horn and the Storage chest next to each other located right as you enter the prison.

In the large room just north of the entry point, you encounter a group of Genlocks and Hurlocks. After the battle you will notice the first of several magical prisons housing demons - a Shade is imprisoned here. The voice of Malcolm Hawke, Hawke's father, speaks to confirm that all manner of demons have been bound in the prison. To kill the Shade, it is necessary to activate the two glowing trigger points called a Mark of the Binder on nearby walls. You then activate the third trigger point on the magical barrier which releases the demon. The fight involves the imprisoned Shade and several replicas. Once all of the demons have been killed, the quest Malcolm's Will is triggered.

Further into Sashamiri's Floor you encounter Larius for the first time. He explains that The Hawke's Key can be used to break the seals holding Corypheus, and that Hawke must work down through the prison breaking each seal. Continue along and you will come to the first seal. Activate the seal and you will battle the first Guardian, a pride demon with an affinity to fire. After the battle a cut-scene plays and you will be able to upgrade The Hawke's Key with an elemental damage. On your way to the next floor you will have to defeat a Genlock Alpha.

Corypheus's Prison - Farele's Floor
Hawke enters Farele's Floor from the end of the first floor in the prison - Corypheus's Prison - Sashamiri's Floor. This floor of the prison is shaped roughly like the letter 'n' - with areas to explore on the east, north and west sides. You enter the floor in the south east corner and exit in the south west.

In the corridor leading right out of the first room, you encounter a Mark of the Binder (a glowing red light on a Grey Warden banner) used to unlock the second magical prison for the side-quest Malcolm's Will, along with the magical prison itself. The second Mark of the Binder is beyond in the next room. This prison contains an Abomination, who summons four Profane to attack you in the battle. Defeating the Abomination and the Profane updates the Malcolm's Will quest.

In the next room, a Darkspawn Emissary locks you in with a group Corpses. Once the initial four are defeated, you can get through to the next room (which is the main room on the east side of this floor) to tackle the emissary and a larger group of corpses. A crumbling walkway to the west of the room contains a Viewpoint which triggers some party dialogue, and the room to the north (a long room with galleries overlooking the central pit) contains a big battle with Hurlocks, an Alpha, and a number of bolters.


 * A side room to the east contains the Crown of Dumat, the first of four ancient Tevinter artefacts required for the Altar of Dumat side-quest.

Along the north side of the prison, you encounter two interlinked rooms of prison cells. The first of these two rooms contains the third and final magical prison as part of the Malcolm's Will quest. The two Marks of the Binder are located in the first prison room, and then just inside the next prison room. The prison holds a Desire demon who summons Corpses and skeleton archers to her defense. Defeating the desire demon and the other enemies completes the Malcolm's Will quest. The voice of Malcolm Hawke explains the background to his role in imprisoning these demons. If Carver Hawke is in the party and it is after Act I, some dialogue is triggered with Hawke as to why Carver joined the Templars.

Heading down into the west side of the prison, into a long thin room with open galleries over the central pit, you are attacked again by a big group of Darkspawn, including Hurlock Grunts, Hurlock Alpha, and Genlock Alpha.


 * In a side room, you can pick up Dumat's Sacrificial Dagger, the second of the four artefacts required for the Altar of Dumat side-quest.

Finally, the path south leads you to the main central room containing the next Seal for Corypheus, it is guarded by a Genlock Alpha and an Ogre. The Guardian summons a number of replicas of itself as part of the battle; if you focus down the Guardian all the replicas will die as soon as it does. After the battle you can again upgrade the Hawke's key. You have a choice of an increase in attack speed, armor penetration, mana/stamina drain, or health drain.

Following another dialogue with Larius, you exit down to Corypheus's Prison - Tower Base.

Corypheus's Prison - Tower Base
Hawke enters the Tower Base from the end of the second floor in the prison - Corypheus's Prison - Farele's Floor. This level explores the area at the base of the tower - the area consists of a number of open clearings surrounded by various collapsed buildings and caves.

You are lured by a pack of deep stalkers into the first clearing, where you are attacked by deepstalkers.
 * On a dead-end path to the south of this clearing is the First Legionnaire's Journal, which triggers the optional side-quest The Paragon's Heir.

In the next clearing, you are attacked by a large group of Darkspawn, including Genlock alpha, Hurlock Alpha, and Hurlock bolters.
 * In a large submerged stone building to the north of the clearing is the Second Legionnaire's Journal, which continues the optional side-quest The Paragon's Heir.

You exit the clearing through a gap in the south-west corner between two griffon statues. Immediately ahead of you are stairs leading up which split into two directions. The steps on the turning to the right lead to a raised platform where you can pick up Dumat's Ritual Scroll for the Altar of Dumat side-quest. The path which continues straight ahead (i.e. heading towards the far west of the map) leads to a sunken room containing six torches. One of your party will suggest lighting the torches. To solve this puzzle you only need to light two torches, the middle torch on the north wall and the eastern torch on the south wall (for orientation purposes, the sarcophagus is on the west wall). Lighting all six activates the sarcophagus at the end of the room, which gives up 19+ gold in loot, and the Gloves which form part of the Regalia of Weisshaupt armor set. The gloves vary depending on Hawke's class:
 * for mage Hawke, this is Gloves of the Silent One.
 * for rogue Hawke, this is Warden Scout's Gloves.
 * for warrior Hawke, this is Gauntlets of the Fortress.

Returning the bottom of those steps, you come out into another clearing, where you find the Altar of Dumat up some carved stone steps in the south-west corner of the map. At this point, you may only have three of the four artefacts to perform the ritual - the fourth is further through this level. See the Altar of Dumat quest page for further details on the options of defiling the altar or performing the sacrificial ritual.

You exit the main clearing through a gap between two griffon statues and then through a doorway in a stone wall. You emerge into another clearing into a fight with Deep Stalkers, Corrupted Spiders and Giant Spiders.
 * In a small gap to the south, there is a cave with a burning pool of water where you find the Sacred Urn of Dumat for the Altar of Dumat quest.
 * In a small alcove just west of this cave is the Third Legionnaire's Journal, which continues the optional side-quest The Paragon's Heir.

Just before you head up the steps to the raised stone bridge, there is a side-path which leads to a small fortified area where you find the body of Tethras Gaven. If you have found all three of the Legionnaire's Journals, and speak the Dwarven prayer, you will complete the side-quest The Paragon's Heir. Continuing back across the stone bridge, you are ambushed at the halfway point by a Genlock alpha.

Once you have crossed the bridge, you can explore the rocky path to the right (which is a dead-end), and continue round to the left which heads towards the seal. There is a massive fight with Darkspawn, including Hurlocks, a Hurlock Alpha and an Emissary in the first wave, and Genlocks, a Genlock alpha and an Ogre in the second wave.*


 * If Anders is in your party, then at this stage he will find Corypheus's calling too much to bear, and Justice will take over. You will have to fight and defeat Anders in this form, but once he has been defeated he is returned to normal.


 * Note: The rocky path to the right that turns into a dead end, (the path just before the massive fight), has the Codex entry: Speculations on Kirkwall.

Finally, you reach the Seal and have to fight the Seal Guardian. After the battle you again have 4 choices to upgrade the Hawke's Key weapon. You either get critical chance up, critical damage up, stun chance up, or chance at speed reduction of enemies up.

As you are exiting, Larius appears again and warns Hawke about the Grey Wardens in the prison. Janeka then appears supported by three other wardens, and explains that instead of destroying Corypheus, she would like Hawke to help with harnessing his power. Hawke must decide to side with either Larius or Janeka (the decision can later be reversed). Note that the quest splits at this point, depending on which path you choose:


 * If Hawke sides with Janeka: the three wardens turn on her and follow Larius off into the tower. You exit into Corypheus's Prison - Daneken's Floor.




 * If Hawke sides with Larius: Janeka casts a spell and she and the three wardens disappear. You are left with Larius to find a way into the prison.  You exit into Corypheus's Prison - Riannon's Floor.



There is little overall difference between the two paths other than the puzzle you have to solve. Larius's path gave about 2K more XP while Janeka's gave ~15 more gold at level 28.

Corypheus's Prison - Riannon's Floor
The Helmet part of the unique armor set Regalia of Weisshaupt is in a chest in a room at the north of the maze, which is detailed below.
 * for mage Hawke, this is Cowl of the Silent One.
 * for rogue Hawke, this is Warden Scout's Cap.
 * for warrior Hawke, this is Helm of the Fortress.

You will enter a room where you fight some Carta mercenaries. You will have to solve the puzzle to get the orange line from one side of the room to the other to unlock the door. Further through this area, searching each room and long corridor, there will be a further 3 power nexus' which will show a different colour light on the pillars (Green, Red, Blue) - these will update the previous puzzle where you must align all the new color beams appropriately. When each individual color is "solved" the color beam will turn white. You will know that the entire puzzle is solved when there are four white (and no colored) beams running throughout the puzzle room. This will unlock all of the barriers leading to the Legacy item set helm.
 * After sloving the Orange line puzzle, hit the Blue power Nexus (furthest) then Red (closest), and finally Green (middle). You will be left with three white lines and one red - just move one column twice to have all white lines. Puzzle solved***

De-activating certain barriers will release demons.

Janeka will return and summon a revenant and four emissaries, which protect the revenant. One heals him, one protects him from spells, one protects him from physical attacks, and one protects him from negative effects. Kill them before you focus on the revenant.

Corypheus's Prison - Daneken's Floor
You have been trapped by Larius in a floor of the prison, with many doorways blocked by magical barriers. You can remove particular barriers by interacting with a nearby Power Nexus. Each Power Nexus (when activated) removes one specific barrier, and Janeka can only activate one Power Nexus at a time. It is necessary to work through the maze, using the Power Nexus activation to bring down barriers.

The Helmet part of the unique armor set Regalia of Weisshaupt is in a chest in a room at the north of the maze (identified on the map to the right) blocked by a gold barrier. The Power Nexus for this barrier is found in a jail cell blocked by a red barrier in a room to the northeast.
 * for mage Hawke, this is Cowl of the Silent One.
 * for rogue Hawke, this is Warden Scout's Cap.
 * for warrior Hawke, this is Helm of the Fortress.

De-activating certain barriers will release demons.

The final battle of the level takes place in the central tower, where you fight three golems activated by Larius.

The Final Seal


This entire chapter is a boss fight that takes place in a single, round room with four alcoves (or rather balconies) around the perimeter. The exit is sealed for the duration of the fight, and you will not have any opportunity to save during the fight. If you don't employ the right strategy for this fight, it will be difficult even in Casual mode. The strategy involves timed running to avoid lethal blasts, and any teammates on autopilot will be killed quickly. You need to pause frequently and micro-manage the positioning of all your teammates.

If you sided with Janeka, Larius will arrive right after you, with the Wardens that took his side at the base of the tower. A dialog will give you an option to side with Larius instead. If you change your mind, Janeka is killed by Larius in a cutscene, leaving the other three Wardens to go rally the rest of the order across Thedas. If you do not change your mind, you will have to fight both Larius and the Wardens. Once they are down, Janeka asks you to deactivate the four gryphon statues that seal the magical holding cell of Corypheus and then to drain some of your Hawke blood to release him. He wakes up, and Janeka casts a spell to bind him. Her spell fails because Corypheus counters it. She curses and a dialog section starts where it becomes apparent what Corypheus is. After some confusion, Corypheus realizes that the people before him are hostile, and the final fight starts.

If you sided with Larius, you will arrive at the scene to find Janeka and the three Wardens already there. They offer you a choice to change sides. If you change sides, Larius will be killed by Janeka. If you stick with Larius, you need to fight both Janeka and the Wardens. Once you have defeated them, Larius says that the seals are getting too weak to hold Corypheus, and that you need to free him and slay him.

So, choosing to support Larius or Janeka has almost exactly the same result. The only difference is whether Janeka or Larius survives this chapter. The Wardens die in most scenarios unless you turned against Janeka just before the final battle, and you always end up releasing Corypheus.

The fight with Corypheus is fun and varied, but long and without any options to save your game. Revival spells or potions are very handy if you make fatal mistakes, because you will need decent firepower for the entire duration of the fight. Even if you come well prepared, the fight is unusually difficult, and strategy is crucial to success.

After beating on Corypheus for a while, he will teleport to the center of the room, become invulnerable, absorb power from the fire elemental statue, start spewing highly lethal flames from his hands and rotate slowly counter-clockwise. The closer your characters are to the center, the more damage they take from the flames. Characters on auto-pilot will not avoid the flames, and if they are close to the center, a single sweep is likely to kill them (depending on your difficulty setting). Keep your entire party moving ahead of the flames, or hide some or all of them in the alcoves where the statues are when the flames pass by. If you stand at the top of the stairs, you will only take minimal damage from the flames. You now need to enter each of the alcoves to interact with the statues once again, to cut off Corypheus from their power. At each interaction with a statue, two Shades will appear, and you need to kill them to advance to the next stage in the fight. After killing all eight Shades, Corypheus will engage your party again in direct combat. When you have brought his health down some more, he will return to the center of the room, absorb power from the nature elemental statue and raise rocks from the floor, making it harder to run from the flames.

Repeat the process of activating each statue and killing eight Shades to advance to the next stage.

Corypheus will reappear on the floor for you to pound on him some more. Then the process repeats a third time, with Corypheus appearing in the center, becoming invulnerable, tapping power from the two remaining statues (representing cold and electricity) and starting to spew rotating flames from his hands again. He now raises more rocks from the floor, drops ice from the ceiling on your party and adds electric arcs that will cause additional damage when you run past them. The cold and electrical damage is relatively mild, but don't stand around near the arcs. You now need to deactivate the statues in each alcove again, and kill the eight Shades that appear. You've done this twice before, and it's not a whole lot more difficult this time around.

After all this running around, Corypheus finally reappears on the battlefield for your party to take him down. He has some powerful spells that inflict heavy damage, and he might teleport across the room a few times to escape when he is low on health, but other than that, he does not pull any more tricks. When he finally falls, you will get a short cutscene where Hawke lands the killing blow.

If you sided with Janeka, she will show remorse after the fight and tell you that she realizes she was misled by voices in her head. She thinks she will be heading for the Final Walk after filing her report with the Wardens, though her dialogue suggests that Corypheus' influence over her might not be completely gone.

If you sided with Larius, he will be the one giving a short concluding speech. He seems to be clear in the head now, thanks you for his freedom and talks about not only reporting back to the Warden-Commander, but returning to service. His dialogue suggests that he feels strongly compelled to do this, for reasons unknown. The scene seems to suggest that he has been taken over by Corypheus, given how he's now speaking coherently, is standing tall, and is speaking in the same manner as Corypheus.

The camera shifts to Varric telling this story to the Seeker, and a short epilogue follows where Hawke and Carver, or Hawke and Bethany, get an opportunity to talk some things out (if Bethany and Carver are both dead, Hawke will instead talk with Gamlen and the "spirit" of Hawke's mother). You are returned to your Hightown estate, and the Legacy areas become inaccessible.