Sebastian Vael

"In the face of danger, sometimes the bravest thing is to stand back and trust that the Maker will see justice done."

Sebastian Vael, an archer of noble birth, is a potential companion in Dragon Age II available through the The Exiled Prince DLC which is included with the Signature Edition. Only a female Hawke can pursue a romance with him.

Background
The Vaels believed that their youngest son, Sebastian, was a disgrace to the family name, and would be a weight around his brothers' necks. They forced him into the Chantry, exiling him from their principality of Starkhaven. While he was not without faith, Sebastian did not wish to give up his life in service to Andraste so early in his existence, and with the aid of the compassionate Grand Cleric Elthina, escaped. Elthina helped him to regain his faith however, and after reflection, Sebastian returned to the Chantry, this time willingly, and through the front door.

Now, Sebastian is forced to re-enter the viper's nest of princely politics when his family is brutally murdered, leaving him as the sole surviving heir.

Involvement
Banding together with Sebastian and his unshakable loyalty and excellent aim, players will choose to either avenge Sebastian's murdered family to reclaim his title or direct his holy vengeance on their enemies in Kirkwall.

Romance
Even though a romance can be made with Sebastian, he will never actually sleep with Hawke due to his vow of chastity.

Friendship
Friendship with Sebastian can generally be earned by being helpful to those in need. Below are some specific ways to earn Sebastian's friendship.

Rivalry
Rivalry with Sebastian can generally be earned by siding against the Chantry or by making aggressive, disagreeable or otherwise "dishonorable" choices. Below are some specific ways to earn Sebastian's rivalry.

Armor
In Dragon Age II you cannot change what armor your companions wear, but you can upgrade it. Sebastian's armor may be upgraded by using the gift mechanics in that game. You will find companion armor upgrades that can be purchased at shops in the tab designated by the Gem Icon. His armor has four slots available for upgrades. These upgrades may be purchased or found at various locations in the the game. Upgrading a companion's armor once unlocks the "A Friend In Need" achievement and fully upgrading a companion's armor unlocks the "I Got Your Back" achievement.

Sebastian's armor upgrades can be found at the following locations:
 * Act 2 Olaf's Armor Hightown: Reinforced Bracers. (+77 Attack)
 * Act 2 Gallows Armor Shop: Enhanced Articulation. (Extra Rune Slot)
 * Act 2 Harimann Estate during Repentance quest Hightown: Mail Undertunic. (+2% Critical Chance)
 * Act 3 Hightown: During the Best Served Cold Quest, on the Templar Lieutenant: Protection of the Faith (Extra Rune Slot)

Bug: For some reason, Sebastian's armor may fail to show up on his equipment screen. His upgrades will also not show, and when the upgrades are found/purchased there will be no "level up" animation/sound indicating that the upgrade was equipped. It's as if Sebastian is simply not wearing armor. It's unknown what causes this, or if the equipped upgrades still give bonuses. (Observed on the 360, Act 2, with Reinforced Bracers, Enhanced Articulation, and Mail Undertunic)

Bugs
When the DLC pack, The Exiled Prince is installed during Act 2, a bug occurs. When you visit outside Chantry at daytime, you'll see the cutscene, but you won't be able to interact with the Chantry board. When this happens, it should be solved by visiting the Act 1 Hightown via debug console. Refer to Quest/Companion Fixes&Workarounds for more details on how to fix this problem.

A bug can occur where Sebastian's loyalty bonus will apply as a negative value to Hawke even though he is not in the party. The normal bonus is 5% damage resistance, therefore during the bug it applies as -5% damage resistance. This bug stacks upon each reload of the game with Sebastian in the party adding -5% each time.

There was a bug with the DLC in the day one Xbox 360 release resulting in Achievements not unlocking despite meeting the requirements. Bioware has since patched the DLC, and suggests you delete the existing content and re-download as a workaround. You will need to re-complete all the quests/actions for these achievements to unlock. No fix has been offered for users who should already have the achievements. See: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/301/index/6708411

Quotes

 * (To Grand Cleric Elthina) "It is my right, my duty, to show these assassins there's nowhere in the Free Marches to hide."
 * (After Grand Cleric Elthina said, "This is murder!") "No, what happened to my family was murder."
 * "Princes aren't meant for chastity."
 * "The Maker is king in the heavens, but it is the kings of Thedas who must recreate his worldly glory."

Trivia

 * Sebastian was written by Jennifer Hepler.


 * Sebastian "Seb" Hanlon, a part of the BioWare team, was at a time assigned to do most of the bug fixing and such for the character. The main reason for this was because of their similar name and it did not please him. The shared name also caused some confusion for Hanlon as every time someone mentioned the character, Hanlon thought they were directing their comments toward him.


 * His first name derives from Sebastos, meaning "venerable" and "revered" in Greek.


 * Alec Newman, who voices Sebastian, is primarily known for his role as another exiled prince - Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's Dune series.


 * If one is to calculate Sebastian's age from what info he tells about himself, Sebastian says he was thirteen when his grandfather made a promise to give him the Starkhaven Longbow, and he was given to the Chantry some time after this. In Act 3, he states that he hasn't been to Starkhaven in fifteen years. That puts Sebastian's age at at least twenty-eight.


 * Vael may be named after Saint Sebastian, a 3rd-century Roman soldier martyred by arrows after it was discovered he was a Christian.