Trials

Trials are a gameplay feature in Dragon Age: Inquisition, available with the Trespasser DLC. They allow the player to modify some game behaviour by either limiting/weakening the party or strengthening enemies. Having one or more trials enabled will increase your chance of receiving special shipment rewards, which can be collected from the special shipments chest in your home base.

You can configure your active trials under "Options" in the Hero menu at any point during the game. You can also use the "Custom" difficulty option during hero creation to configure trials for a new game.

Even Ground
"Enemies always scale to be at least the same level as the Inquisitor. Significantly increases the chance of receiving special shipment rewards in your stronghold."

Required for the achievement "Trial of the Empress". To obtain this achievement, wait until your Inquisitor reaches level 16, then turn this on and travel to the Hinterlands to fight the Fereldan Frostback High Dragon. See the Frostback's page for a strategy guide.

Walk Softly
"The enemies of the inquisitor may have new traits and abilities in combat. Significantly increases the chance of receiving special shipment rewards in your stronghold."

Required for the achievement "Trial of the Emperor". To obtain this achievement, turn it on at any point and kill any 20 creatures, including non-hostile creatures, with "Promoted" listed in their traits in the tactical camera.

Note: Enemies that have been given additional traits but do not specifically carry the "Promoted" status effect will not count towards the achievement.

Promoted enemies may gain one or more of the following abilities:
 * "Elite" status (enemies that are normally always elite, e.g. bears, may be promoted to "Boss" instead)
 * New attacks and abilities, e.g. archers may gain Leaping Shot and mages may gain Fade Cloak
 * Additional health
 * Additional traits:
 * Perceptive - allows enemies to flush rogues out of stealth
 * Barrier Breaker - destroys allies' barriers
 * Guard - enemies begin combat with a full guard bar
 * Random elemental resistance(s), in addition to any elemental resistances already in place
 * Random immunity to any status effect, in addition to any immunities already in place
 * Mages and Spellbinders' barriers may regenerate over time; dispel will reduce the barrier, but never completely eradicate it

Note: Not every enemy in a group will be given "Promoted" status with this trial enabled. On average, one enemy per group will be given the "Promoted" status, and even then the promotion is only done on an occasional basis, with no guarantee that every group of enemies will have a "Promoted" unit. However, enemies can still be given an additional trait as listed above without otherwise being labeled as "Promoted."

Rest Easy
"You lose all focus if you rest or travel to a camp. Slightly increases the chance of receiving special shipment rewards in your stronghold."

Required for the achievement "Trial of Temperance". To obtain this achievement, turn this trial on before travelling to Emprise du Lion for the first time. Continue down the quest chain until you capture Suledin Keep.

Rub Some Dirt on It
"All healing potions heal only 1 health. Significantly increases the chance of receiving special shipment rewards in your stronghold."

Required for the achievement "Trial of the Tower". To obtain this achievement, capture Suledin Keep and repair the bridge, then turn this trial on and cross the bridge to fight the Hivernal High Dragon. See the Hivernal's page for a strategy guide.

Travel Light
"All supply caches are removed from the game. Slightly increases the chance of receiving special shipment rewards in your stronghold."

Required for the achievement "Trial of the Magician". To obtain the achievement, turn the trial on before starting the main quest In Hushed Whispers. It can be turned off once the quest is completed. Playing on casual difficulty will make obtaining this achievement much easier.

Take It Slow
"You gain XP at half the normal rate. Slightly increases the chance of receiving special shipment rewards in your stronghold."

Required for the achievement "Trial of the Fool". To obtain this achievement, start a new game and select this trial under custom difficulty. It must be kept on until the Inquisition reaches Skyhold at level 5 or below. This can be achieved by avoiding combat as much as possible. Side quests, companion recruitment quests and fade rifts should also be avoided as they give XP.

Complete requisitions and establish camps to gain enough power to advance the main quest chain; good requisitions in the Hinterlands are Hinterlands Drakestone Survey and Hinterlands Iron Survey as they do not require combat. You can save and reload to get the requisition you want.

During main quests, have a rogue enter stealth and run through as many combat encounters as possible (e.g. the two fade rifts outside during In Hushed Whispers, which do not need to be closed and can be ignored completely). If you begin In Your Heart Shall Burn at level 4, you should unlock this achievement at the end of the quest. For obvious reasons, it is recommended that you try this on casual difficulty.

Fair-Weather Friends
"Negative approval changes for followers are doubled. Slightly increases the chance of receiving special shipment rewards in your stronghold."

Required for the achievement "Trial of the Lovers". To obtain this achievement, start a new game with custom difficulty and turn this option on. It must be kept on until the Inquisitor begins the quest Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts with all companions.

To prevent Sera, Cole, Dorian or Blackwall from leaving the Inquisition, you must keep their approval above -35. All other companions will never leave the Inquisition once they have joined. However, the doubled negative approval means that gives -40 points to companions' approval score. This is particularly a problem for Cole and Dorian, who will join the Inquisition with a hidden approval score based on the outcome of either In Hushed Whispers or Champions of the Just, which may mean that they join your party with -40 approval. There is only one option that avoids putting at least one of Cole or Dorian in danger of leaving:


 * Ally with the rebel mages during In Hushed Whispers (giving approval for Cole, Dorian and Blackwall).
 * of allying with the rebel mages, so you can either leave her recruitment quest until after In Hushed Whispers, or recruit her beforehand and raise her approval as high as possible before continuing. If you leave her recruitment until after In Hushed Whispers, make sure to recruit her before In Your Heart Shall Burn and talk to her in Haven, otherwise you will receive at Skyhold.
 * Once at Skyhold, focus on completing side quests, establishing Inquisition camps and closing fade rifts to gain enough power to unlock Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts. Leave Here Lies the Abyss until after Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts has been completed.

If you manage to keep all companions with you, then the achievement will unlock once you enter Halamshiral.

Grizzly End
"You thought bears were tough? Think again. Significantly increases the chance of receiving special shipment rewards in your stronghold."

Required for the achievement "Trial of the Hermit". To obtain the achievement, turn this trial on and kill 10 great bears. The bears are vulnerable to fire and resistant to cold, so it is a good idea to give mages fire staves and add fire or corrupting runes to your party's weapons.

Rewards
You are notified in game whenever a reward is available. The notification also appears again when entering Skyhold. You can get the rewards from the special shipment chest in
 * your house on the north side of Haven,
 * the Undercroft in Skyhold, or
 * the north-west house (by your wardrobe) in the Winter Palace (second visit only).

Common rewards

 * 2-4 Diamond, Emerald, or Moonstone (until level 13 only)
 * Rare or unique accessories (fixed list based on your level)
 * Any fade-touched crafting materials (starting on level 13)
 * Sigils (fixed list based on your level)

Unique equipment rewards
The following items are possible until you reach level 13: Once you have reached level 13 the unique rewards change to: