Exploits (Origins)

An exploit (AKA glitch) is a vulnerability that that can be triggered within a game. This vulnerability allows the player to use a bug to give the player an unintended advantage within a video game. Some of these bugs get patched, so the patch version where they occur is noted where it is relevant.

= Known Exploits =

Unlimited Morrigan Approval while in Lothering
While in Lothering speak to Sten and tell him you will talk to the Chantry Mother and see if she will release him. Before you enter the chantry it is advisable to remove all party members other than Morrigan so that no one disapproves of your actions. Speak to the Chantry Mother and ask about Sten's release. When the first intimidate option appears chose it. It should fail and the Chantry mother will tell you she will not release sten and you should leave. Now you can repeatedly talk to the Chantry Mother about sten and she will tell you No and Morrigan will gain +4 approval each time. With this you can easily max her approval and if you still want Sten you can have Leliana lock pick his cage.

Potent Lyrium Potions
Making Potent Lyrium Potions is one way to make extra money. The following steps are repeatable.
 * 1) Make sure Morrigan or your character has master level herbalism.
 * 2) Buy the Potent Lyrium Potion Recipe from Tranquil Proprietor in the Denerim Market District for 11g.
 * 3) Buy stacks of lyrium dust from the Quartermaster in The Circle Tower. The more stacks you can purchase the fewer trips you need to make.
 * 4) Buy concentrator and distillation agents from the Gnawed Noble Tavern ONLY. Bodahn Feddic in the party camp sells them more expensively and eliminates any profit.
 * 5) Make the potions and sell them to the Gnawed Noble innkeeper. Use the profits to purchase more distillation and concentration agents.

Note: You make around 1 in profit for every 5 Potent Lyrium Potions sold through this method.

Tip: If you happen to be a Dwarf Noble, don't sell the Potions to the Innkeeper. Instead, sell them to Gorim, the merchant at the Denerim Marketplace. He should be quite familiar to you.

He will buy everything from you at a 50% discount, instead of the normal 25%.

Question: So How many of these Potent Lyrium Potions do you have to make to cover all the Cash you spent investing (11gt)?. Also, is it possible to produce 100 of these Potions with a single click? or you have to click [Create] once per potion. Sorry I've never invested any points in Erbalism.


 * Answer: Assuming the PC is not a Dwarf Noble selling to Gorim, and also assuming the non-Lyrium ingredients and flasks are coming from the Gnawed Noble bartender (not Bodahn), then the recipe pays for itself after 52 potions are made and sold, leaving a 21s 30c profit. The total cost for this operation (if done in one cycle) is 64g 78s 70c, which includes the price of the recipe, flasks, and ingredients.


 * You can't create more than 1 potion per click.


 * A full stack of 99 Potent Lyrium Potions requires 102g 6s 90c (after the cost of the recipe), and profits 21g 68s 10c. For most PCs, the rate of return is 21% regardless of what you're starting with, not including the cost of the recipe. To end up with over 100g profit, plus a free Potent Lyrium Potion recipe, you'd have to make and sell 508 potions.


 * For the Dwarf Noble selling to Gorim, however, the profit margin goes to a whopping 142%. So whereas everyone else doubles their money in 3.6 cycles, a Dwarf Noble's money will multiply 24 times with the same effort. Want gold? Start Aeducan.


 * Jellybug 10:21, February 2, 2010 (UTC)

For More Information Regarding Potent Lyrium Potions Investment Requirements, Please refer to this page -> Money.

Fycan 11:41, February 2, 2010 (UTC)

Pre/Post Camping Bodahn Glitch
This glitch essentially allows the player to purchase anything in the inventory of Bodahn (the dwarf in your party camp) twice. He carries several very nice items, including tomes as well as one of the best hand axes in the game. When you leave Lothering, he will meet you in camp. Use the Infinite Money Glitch below to get as much money as you need and then buy everything he has you want two of. It is recommended you buy all tomes, grandmaster runes, weapons, etc. he has. Next time you return to camp, he will have restocked with duplicates of all these items.

It should be noted that this precise timing of this is the very first time you enter camp (when Bodahn first appears). After you leave camp that very first time, he will restock. If you miss the opportunity, there isn't another chance.

Infinite Money Glitch
This glitch essentially allows the player to sell an item twice. Add any item (preferably an expensive one) to your Junk and visit any merchant. When selling the item hit the "Sell All Junk" button and 'immediately' after hit the "Sell" button. You will need to hit the buttons nearly simultaneously, so it might take it bit of practice. If done correctly, you will receive twice the sell price of the item. Simply buy the item back from the merchant and repeat for more cash. The trick on the PS3 is to make sure the highlight is always on the right side of the screen under "Party Inventory". After you sell the item and get 2x the selling price, buy the item back from the left side and move your highlight back to the right side.

Note: The value of the "exploited" item will drop significantly from its original price however. i.e. a 4 gold item will be rendered into a 75 silver item. However it has been confirmed at least on the 360, that Evon the Great's Mail which vendors for 2070 can be used indefinately for this exploit with no depreciation, allowing your player to net approx. 41 4 per time this exploit is performed in the trade/sell junk window allowing you to gain money in the thousands in a short amount of time.

Confirmed: Blood dragon plate does not depreciate.

On the PC version, left-click and drag the item over to sell as usual, but hold down the right button at the same time.

This works best by buying the most expensive item you can afford from the vendor and then performing the cheat on that item. Due to item buyback you will recieve twice the full value of the item rather than the vendor price after which you will then be able to buy the item back again for the vendor price. In this manner you can quickly step up even from an inexpensive item to items such as The Rose's Thorn with a buyback price of over 28, quickly netting huge profits. There is no deprecation for items bought/sold in this manner on the PC.

Note: There are some items which you can not sell back, such as the Ranger and Templar Manuals in Camp, and as such can not be used in this exploit.

Duplicate Items
This glitch is similar to the infinite money glitch above. You must have at least two of the item you wish to duplicate. Move all copies of the item to your Junk, and sell all of them to any merchant. Buyback all but one of the items. Then select the two (or more) items now back in your inventory. Hit "Sell All Junk" and immediately afterwards hit "Sell." If done correctly, the merchant will receive twice the number of items you actually sold to them, and these can then be bought back. (Verified for both PS3 and XBox 360)

This will only work if the icon for the item says "x", such as "x2" or "x3" denoting the number of items you have. Some items are shown as "(2)" or "(3)", such as enchantment runes. These items cannot be duplicated, but can be used to generate money using the Infinite Money Glitch.

On the PC version, have a stack of at least three items in your inventory (Two if the vendor you're talking to has that particular item in stock). Sell an item to the vendor, with at least one of its type still in your inventory, leave him, and speak to him again. The item will be full price. Left click it to buy it, but hold down the right mouse button at the same time (Similar to the infinite money glitch). If correctly performed, the amount of items in the stack that you already had will be increased by one, and you will also have a duplicate of that item in your inventory, not part of the stack.

Unlimited Enhancement Crystals
This bug will give unlimited enhancement crystals for Shale. If Bella is made to own the tavern in Redcliffe, it is possible to get unlimited crystals for free. Sell them at the smith and return to Bella. (known for PS3, XBox 360 ). '''Doing this can corrupt your save file and make your game unplayable (unconfirmed). '''To avoid this possibility, save well before you intend to start exploiting Bella's generosity, and then create a second save before you sell stacks of crystals to the smith.

Level Up Glitch
In Ostagar during the mission Tainted Blood you are asked to collect three vials of darkspawn blood and the Grey Warden Treaties. Collect the three Vials of darkspawn blood first before the treaties and then return to the main camp where you will talk to Duncan. Choose the choice option "We have the blood, but not the scrolls." On exiting the conversation you will collect experience for the mission and can continue to collect experience for this quest by continually talking to Duncan. Once you collect the Treaties you can no longer exploit Duncan for experience. This is an easy way to level up early if you need to. Using this exploit will skew the levelling/experience of future recruited companions. Although the future party members will be of a comparable level to the Warden, they will not have any attributes to accompany that level.

Additional Notes
It is worth mentioning that using this exploit to max out your level will make this quest very difficult to complete, since not only do the monsters scale with your level, so does their equipment, and the player does not have high-end gear sets and weapons to overcome this. Even moreso since only the player and Alistair can level up, which makes Ser Jory and Daveth essentially dead weight.

Verified for Xbox 360 - You may also use this to get the level 20 achievements.

This exploit was 'fixed' with the release of the 1.02 patch for the PC on 8/12/09. Further, this exploit does not work on the PS3 retail version.

Level Up Glitch using Ally Supply Crates
Buying 99er Stacks of Deathroot (1G 60S) or Elfroot (1G 18S) from Varathorn at the Dalish Camp and putting them into the Elven Ally Supply Crates at the Camp gives 880 XP per stack, which is a very cheap and easy way to reach the Levelcap. Note that stacks of 88 of each item give the max XP (880) but there's no way to end up with multiple stacks of exactly 88 roots, thus anyone using this glitch will normally be "wasting" 11 roots per glitch.

Varified on PC and PS3. Needs verification on 360.

Item Tier Bug

 * Storing items in the Party Chest from Warden's Keep and returning later causes many non-fixed-tier items to raise to the tier they would be found at if discovered at the character's current level.
 * This exploit also works when selling items to any weapon/armor merchant except Old Tegrin, exiting the trade menu, opening it again and repurchasing the items. This sub-exploit immediately re-levels items. Although outside of Warden's Keep, you may be required to advance in level before the item level changes.
 * This exploit is notable as it allows levelling of unique items such as Warden Commander Armor Set to Dragonbone even if acquired early in the game, making it useful till end-game.
 * Some non-fixed tier items such as the Antique Warden Crossbow may randomly change tier up or down requiring many trips back to camp and the Keep to obtain the desired tier.
 * Iron tier dwarven equipment may be bought from Old Tegrin and placed in the chest and sold for a small profit at a raised tier later.
 * This Does Not work on PC, for it to work on PC, the player must sell these items to Levi Diadren instead of storing it in the chest.

DLC Reappearing items
When DLC-items are sold, they reappear after deactivating / activating the DLC enabling the user to sell them again. (PC)

Traps for Money and XP
In Lothering, there is an NPC named Allison who asks the player to create some traps for her farm to protect against the Darkspawn (Traps are a Girl's Best Friend). The quest gives 50 and some experience as a reward. The hand-in to the NPC requires a minimum of Level 1 Traps on any character active in the current party. Each turn in requires 3 spring traps (materials for these can be purchased from the Inn within Lothering who stocks an unlimited amount of this item). If none of the characters in the current group have the Trap Making skill, then this quest will not be able to be obtained and no further attempts to talk with Allison after the initial dialogue is complete will be possible. Note also that Allison will stop giving this quest (or accepting traps) if the MC's party exceeds some unknown limit of stealing attempts/failed stealing attempts in Lothering. On the XBox 360 version, at least, if you gain the Trap Making skill after initially telling Allison that you can't help her, you will have the option to tell her that you can help her now, and can make her as many traps as you like. Also, on the 360, you get coin each time, but not the experience.

Verified: On the 360 you do receive both the 50 silver and a small amount of experience, it just doesn't give a notification but if you observe your EXP bar it does move after each time you give her the traps.

Avoid Some Denerim Encounters ("go to camp")
This is a minor exploit, or possibly a feature, which can help the PC avoid Denerim random encounters. After opening the Denerim city map to leave a location outside the Market, select the world map and go directly to the party campsite to avoid any immediate Denerim random encounters. This appears to work even for "non random" random encounters such as the Mercenaries attack after they've been convinced to leave the Pearl -- however, this does not prevent the encounters from happening at all but simply postpones the opportunity for an encounter.

Unlimited Experience Glitch (Mountain Top)
As you Enter onto the Mountain Top area from either the Ruined Temple or The Gauntlet, each party member gains 750exp. All that is required is to transition onto the mountain top area so:
 * Enter the Mountain Top, gain 750xp.
 * Turn around and exit to Ruined Temple or The Gauntlet.


 * Repeat as desired

This only works if you Did Not defile the Ashes.

Skip Road Encounters
Sometimes, while traveling from place to place, darkspawn and other enemies may interrupt, which can be rather time-consuming. To skip these, simply go to the party camp. Then, go to the desired destination directly, without interruptions.

Mugging
A quick way for beginner players to get some nice armor and weapons is to simply taken from Temporary Party Members. Most, if not all, origin stories will have a temporary party companion, a companion who, after the origins, will never be your companion again. Simply go to the inventory and unequip all of their items. Weapons, armor, accessories, even clothing can be taken without refusal or any notice at all from the companion. This has no negative affects, at all. Even if your origin story does not have a temporary companion, soon afterward, Ser Jory and Daveth become companions. In fact, Ser Jory is someone from whom you will benefit greatly from this exploit. Note: It is not recommended you use this trick on normal companions, unless they are about to leave or betray you (For example, defiling the ashes will make Wynne leave for good, along with all the equipment she has. It is recommended you "Mug" her  before  defiling the ashes.

Note: None of the above is necessary unless the companion "leaves" (i.e. is is not killed). You will receive all weapons and armor from temporary party members after the Origin is over, and if you have to kill one of your normal companions you will be able to loot them, receiving all the gear you have given them. (Verified)

Free Attribute Points
In the PC version, it is possible to get free character attribute points (statistics) during a level up. To do this, first allocate all 3 points to an attribute you do not need. Now select "Reset". The attributes will all return to their original values, with 3 points available, however, you can now deduct 3 more points from the attribute that you previously modified, giving you 6 available points to spend (although no net gain of points yet). Allocate all 6 points to the attribute, select "Reset", and now you will be able to deduct 6 additional points from that attribute. Repeat this process, and when you can deduct more points than the attribute contains, the attribute will stop at zero (or -1 or -2, depending on the character), but the number of available points will continue to increase as you attempt to remove points from the attribute. Now each time you repeat the process, you will net 3 additional attribute points to spend. Note: You do not have to remove the points from the attribute until the end (Just allocate, reset, allocate, reset, etc, until you are satisfied, then press the down arrow repeatedly until the number of available points stops increasing). Then allocate the points to other attributes.

Note: As of 1/14/10 it appears that the newest update actually allows your scores to become negative so you never truly make a gain in points.

Also(from Patpar450): I've been doing this method with my Mabari dog who doesn't need magic and went minus in magic, I had a dog with 840 health point (about 150 in constitution.....) but remember press play and dont spend all attributes keep at least 3. This method could be fun if you made an error with points, giving more dex to your rogue than magic for example but without tremedously cheat like with my Mabari. Then youl respect the way it was entended by the "maker" in an orderly fashion.